Hourglass
by Sanashii
Summary: Time-travel/non-massacre AU. It was just one simple wish that led for the whole time to change, and this time stories will tell of a young pink haired girl and a stoic Uchiha genius who tried to change the future.
1. Chapter 1

Haruno Sakura was extremely annoyed.

One would certainly easily come to that conclusion by merely observing her surroundings with an impassive glance. Even if it was a thick headed and downright block headed civilian. She was certainly not one to be messed with at this moment. Clenching her fists, she let out a cry as she pummeled it into a stone dummy, effectively shattering it into little pieces that flung everywhere. One particular little speck flew right at her eye.

Growling she drew back and blinked quickly, trying to get the piece out. She succeeded, but it left her left eye sore, red and watery. And that served to anger her even more. Letting out a frustrated yell she once again readied her fist, this time to make contact with her ground, but a voice stopped her actions.

The pinkette bothered not to turn around, as she recognized that voice well.

"Shikamaru Kun."

The prodigy gave a cursory glance at the place where once was a training ground, now completely _demolished _beyond recognition. It was her personal training ground, bestowed to her by the fifth Hokage, her mentor as a gift for making it into Jounin ranks and it had remained with her ever since. He recalled she used to come here to usually either meditate or just stare ahead with a melancholy look in her eyes, as she remembered the once happy times.

There was hardly any relaxing to do here now, without being properly mended by earth chakra shinobi. The ANBU captain tried not to waver as the Hokage's apprentice turned to glare at him, feeling slightly uneasy on the inside. This was of course Haruno Sakura. One who angers her rarely escaped without being properly punished.

"Hokage Sama requested you to go to her office."

Anger flared in her eyes once more and he swore chakra was actually encircling her. Oh yes, she was truly very annoyed...

"If it's about the request made by the Konoha Elders, go in my place and inform them I reject it and would continue doing so!"

A slight frown marred his face. "That will not be appropriate...you are my superior and she has requested for you to-"

"SHUT UP!"

Shikamaru promptly shut his mouth and took one careful step back. She was furious beyond measure. And he was sure at this state she would not hesitate to even attack him; she had once so done to her own temporary ANBU teammate in a fit and nearly killed him. After all the training in the past five years, he would surely be at a disadvantage.

Just as he was sure she was going to explode, the woman let herself fall into the seiza position and sat there, her head bowed. Two minutes ticked by and she began twitching until soon, she was shaking violently as harried gasps escaped from her. She showed this side to only a select few; him being one because they had known each other for long. Whenever this happened, all he could do was stand there and watch.

Five full years had passed since the war had ended. Five full years since the three most precious people to her were snatched by the cruel hands of destiny. The sole member of team seven she was now. The long war ended peacefully, with the sacrifice of the three shinobi she loved so much; each without fulfilling their dreams.

Naruto died as the greatest hero of the Shinobi world. He was and still is honored by all in the Shinobi World. His statue stands in the midst of Konoha, tall, golden and proud as he holds the symbol of the will of fire in one hand, with the Rasengan, his ultimate jutsu which he used to finish the war in the other. His legacy spread far and wide, each generation would surely be taught of the great Uzumaki Naruto, who rose from becoming hated to the greatest person in history.

The Kyuubi host sacrificed himself for the safety of everyone, without achieving his dream to become Hokage. His lifelong dream which he once had vowed to accomplish nearly every half an hour, had worked for so long was shattered completely. He died with a smile even then, Sakura cradling him, screaming and unwilling for anyone but Hinata to approach them until someone finally dragged her away and sedated her.

Uchiha Sasuke.

Shikamaru was not sure what happened to her other teammate. From what reports he had searched through and gossips he had heard, he had come to a conclusion that the last Uchiha too, died in the war; the first of the team seven to perish. Sakura and Kakashi were supposedly present when he lay to rest. But the copy nin was no more and Sakura would not speak about how she dealt with what happened back there. What mattered was, she said, that their graves were in Konoha where they belonged.

Home.

Witnessing all three of her teammates get killed in front of her eyes, and her inability to do anything to save them yet again, the fifth Hokage's apprentice had nearly gone insane with the guilt and sorrow. She spent nearly half an year under direct supervision of Tsunade, until one day, the girl came out in open. They thought she had recovered. They were far from the truth.

Blaming herself for the death of team seven, Haruno Sakura had allowed most of her emotions to be locked up in order to prevent them from getting into the way of duty ever again. It allowed her to steadily gain ranks and gain widespread approval for her abilities. Her lack of emotional response made her an ideal assassin and that's what she was until last year when she resigned to focus on trainee ANBU students instead.

She surpassed Tsunade herself long ago, right in the battlefield and kami knew what she was capable of doing now.

And yet, he knew that even though she had forgotten to either laugh or cry, she was still very much human. She was only trying her hardest not to show her state of weakness to others. She still loved hanging around with her friends and cracking jokes; she was still half the Sakura they knew back then as far as he could see.

"Jeez..." She finally stood up, rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. "...I'm off to the dango shop. I hope they have my favorite there. Shika, you are welcome to accompany me if you'd like."

Shikamaru watched as Sakura calmly walked off the grounds and then as she went past him, he placed a hand on her shoulder, making her stop. He sighed inwardly as she scowled, knowing what was coming and braced himself to face her wrath.

"Nara...I am NOT going to the meeting and you can't _make me_. Don't make me break your arm."

"I can't make you go there Sakura." He said quietly, hoping not to provoke her. "But Tsunade Sama will be upset should you not turn up again, don't you think? The elders will turn their wrath on her and she won't say anything to you...but you know how harsh they could get..."

Her scowl deepened and she glared coldly at her friend who just smiled back innocently as if he just did not use the trump card against her. Sakura was one to try avoid rules when she felt like it but when it was Tsunade Senju to request something from her; she often obeyed without so much as a wink. She respected her mentor far too much to even think of upsetting her.

"...Lets go." She finally murmured and Shikamaru let his hand slide off from her should and sighed wearily before letting out an amused chuckle. She snorted softly in response, stuffing both hands into the pockets and walking off. He followed her, his own hands clasped behind his back. "Save me from the boredom and tell me how you and Ino are getting along, Shikamaru. Have you proposed yet?"

"Don't say it so loud!"

"I take it you haven't. I didn't expect to anyway considering how big of a chicken you are when it comes to these matters."

"Troublesome woman..."

He watched her amused face complete with a mischievous smile and felt glad that she could at least force her mind to deviate from the troublesome matters. The Konoha elders were after all, really troublesome old meddling hags.

* * *

"I said I refuse. Have I not iterated it over countless times already?"

Koharu Utatane narrowed her eyes as her partner, Homaru rose up to protest. She glared at the ANBU captain sitting in front of them, a pout gracing her cupid bow lips as she gazed off somewhere else with a look of slight annoyance across her face.

"Listen Haruno Sakura." He said. "You do know the significance of the post we are offering you. No other shinobi can do it as well as you can to protect Konoha! You cannot refuse this!"

"I can and I will. I will not accept this post. Shisou is still able to continue." Sakura spared a glance at her mentor who smiled at her weakly, silently apologizing for not being able to do anything about what was going on. She looked tired and the ANBU captain was sure that the busty woman had not slept well for a long time. This issue which had been going on for three weeks now, was irritating both student and teacher to no end.

"I will not accept the post of Hokage."

Sakura would not, under any circumstances accept that position. She did not deserve it. She was not worthy of being labelled as the Fire Shadow. The name was only bestowed on the greatest shinobi of Konoha, the ultimate hero's who were willing to sacrifice anything and everything to ensure their village stayed safe from any harm. And who was worthy of that title was now deceased, and she would not use his permanent absence to replace him. Naruto was the true hero, the one worthy of being Hokage.

"Naruto has been dead for 5 years. You cannot be dwelling on it for that long!" Koharu hissed. "Besides! I hardly think accepting the post of Hokage will be unjust to him! He'd be happy you became the Konoha's protector!"

It took all in Sakura's willpower not to physically assault the 77 year old wretch in front of her. How _dare _she disrespect Naruto? After all he had done to ensure their safety, the council of Konoha would not even consider how unhappy he would be. Naruto wasn't dead. He was alive. His presence was still with them. He would never die and none of the Konoha 11 would allow it.

She knew Koharu and Homaru were merely looking out for Konoha's best. But if she were to accept the role of being Hokage, that would mean hurting Naruto. He was the one in their team who was destined for it. He wouldn't be as upset if the one to be Hokage were to be selected from someone else from the original Konoha 11.

"It doesn't _have _to be me. Shikamaru would make a wonderful Hokage. Better than me." Sakura stated. "There is Hinata as well."

"Shikamaru is not suited for the job. He has been in despair since his father was killed in the war and you know he will not accept the post of Hokage. Hinata is the heir to the Hyuga clan and yet she is still extremely weak. Hanabi would be better suited to it than her!" Koharu already began to feel the stirrings of another headache and she leaned back, rubbing the sides of her temple. Why was this Kunoichi so _stubborn_?

"I don't care." Sakura turned her head around with a scowl and crossed her hands over her chest, itching to leave a mark on both of their faces. Disrespecting Naruto was one thing; insulting the one who vowed to stand by him in all forms of danger was just going one step further.

"DON'T BE SO IMPRUDENT!" Homaru nearly yelled, turning red in the face with anger. She began to wish that his high blood pressure would work its way right now and give him a sudden stroke thus, ending this whole annoying procedure. "YOU DO REALIZE YOUR ACTIONS ARE OF UTMOST DISGRACE RIGHT NOW, TURNING DOWN A WONDERFUL OPPORTUNITY THAT WOULD VERY WELL PLACE THE CITIZENS OF KONOHA IN WELL POSITION!"

"She is very stubborn." Tsunade chuckled, opening her mouth for the first time. The slug princess was sure her student would stay strong in her choice, like her departed teammate. Eventually they would have to give up in trying convincing her. That _or _Sakura would leave Konoha for good. The Kazekage had already assured Sakura that he would provide her with residence within Suna for as long as she wished.

As much as she didn't want Sakura to do something like this against her will, she didn't want her to just run away from the problem.

Tsunade had something in mind but she was unsure of whether to trust Sakura with it. It had been troubling her for a while now and she had spent that last week trying to think it through. She didn't have much time before her pupil would finally snap and run away from Konoha as a defected shinobi.

"Sakura Haruno, I will ask you again. Will you accept the post of becoming Hokage?"

"No." She said bluntly, observing her fingernails. "Shoot..." She muttered under her breath and started playing with her thumb, trying to pull off a hangnail. Her carefree actions served to make the two even more riled up.

"LITTLE GIRL YOU ARE TESTING MY PATIENCE WITH YOUR RUDE BEHAVIOR!"

They all clearly heard the noisy croaks of crows as they fluttered away. Silence was followed by Tsunade's heavy laughter and Sakura's smirk, much to their chagrin.

* * *

Two tired girls trudged along the busy streets of Konoha wearily, one holding a bag in her hand. They had been searching for their friend for a long time and they had almost roamed around the village twice since the morning.

Upon meeting Konohamaru, their friends' current student, they learned that Sakura was in a meeting with the two elders regarding the ongoing issue of who would be the next Hokage. Apparently it would take a while before it was over; would end sooner should she choose to jump out of the window once more like she did the last time.

"Hey Hinata, do you think she'll be okay?" Ino asked softly, rubbing the back of her head as she glanced at the Hokage's mansion with worried eyes. "That's the second one this week."

The Hyuga Heiress shook her head, stopping beside her friend and peered into the bag in her hands. She had made them this morning after craving something sweet and decided to make some extra ones for Sakura who had an incurable sweet tooth and an obsession for dango. Unfortunately it seemed that she would be unable to gift them to her any time sooner because of this.

"I doubt it. The elders love pushing people to the limits." Hinata sighed. "I can only hope that Sakura is alright."

"I don't get it though." Ino muttered as she started walking again, crossing her hands across her chest. "Why can't Sakura accept the post of Hokage? She is perfectly suited to the position and all! She must be retarded to turn this down-"

Hinata only gave half an ear to the ranting blond girl, knowing well that she did not fully understand what her best friend was currently going through. Though Ino was a good friend, she had problems understanding other people well and had yet to fully comprehend what Sakura was going through currently.

It was a bit ironic that even as Sakura's best friend, Ino still didn't know her very well and even more so, considering she knew Sakura a lot better when compared to the blond. Perhaps Sakura would not speak of her troubles in order to worry Ino or maybe she didn't just because she didn't want to. Sakura did talk to Hinata now and then when the girl pressed onto the matters that were troubling her but that was about it.

Sakura was not the one to tell anyone about what troubled her.

"We should head to her training grounds." Hinata interrupted her loud companion, clutching the bag tighter to herself. "She is often goes there when she is troubled and seeing that it is the only place we haven't checked so far; waiting there would be the best thing to do."

Blinking owlishly, Ino nodded at the reasoning and followed the more composed girl towards the grounds. Sakura often frequented her personal training area and Ichiraku ramen and Hinata often interrupted Sakura beating the daylights out of her students in the former place (she called it 'training') and more than often saved them out of her unforgiving hands.

Many ANBU and Jounin rookies often approached her for tips and pointers for their training but only a few dared to ask her to become their sensei. She never said no to anyone and often started their training the very day they asked her. However, because of her extreme training methods, many thanked her and fled right after the first day and those who day would resign a few days later.

The only student who stuck it all out and stayed with her was Konohamaru. He asked her two years ago and since then, had shown remarkable improvement in all fields and was steadily improving himself day by day. He was by far the only one Hinata knows to have survived Sakura's wrath more than once and for that, she was greatly impressed.

Not everyone would be willing to stand on top of an icy mountain, soaked from head to toe wearing only underwear as part of endurance training.

Such determination was because he had vowed to catch up to Naruto nii-san and to become Hokage in his stead. Sakura was proud of him and she knew that Naruto be too, would be should he be living.

So, when Hinata approached the training grounds, she was expecting to see an empty ground, Sakura throttling a random shinobi or her taking her frustration out on a stone dummy – anything except a piece of land cut out from a war zone and pasted over the area.

"Hey Hinata," Ino laughed nervously as she shook a frozen Hyuga Heiress whose eyes were fixed to the unrecognizable land. "Can you pinch me or something? Am I dreaming? Do I or do I not see an empty battle field in front of me? Ehueu?!"

"Hinata? Ino? What are you doing here?" They both whipped their heads around to see a very calm Haruno Sakura in ANBU gear, staring at them with a bored expression. Her lazy eyes drifted down to the bag Hinata was clutching to her chest and raised an eyebrow in question.

The shy girl fumbled and letting out a squeak, she handed the bag to her. "I-It's Mitarashi Dango. It's for you. I made it myself so please have it."

"Thank you. I have not eaten since I returned from the mission yesterday." Sakura politely accepted it with a slight bow while Ino still gawked at the training grounds and back at her repeatedly.

She must have been telling the truth because Hinata saw her face light up at the sight of the packets inside and immediately reached for one. She watched Sakura take a bite and pausing to savor the taste. Worry began to inundate her as she finally realized how thin and pale her friend looked, growing more so as she smiled gratefully at her.

"It is very good. Thank you."

She wished that she had made more for her friend because in a matter of seconds, the woman had finished everything. Her pale skin regained some color and yet, when she placed a hand on her cheek, it was still cold. Ino placed a hand on her best friend's shoulder, her brows drawn together in worry. "How did the meeting go?"

"Terrible." She answered honestly, letting out a harried sigh. "They are forcing me to accept the post of being Hokage. Apparently they would announce it by tomorrow."

"Huh?" The Hyuga heiress blinked, surprised at this new piece of information. "They just decided it by themselves?"

Sakura nodded slowly, placing one stick still coated with syrup into her mouth. Her features looked completely strained and stiff all over and Hinata couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Sakura..."

The girl sat down in the seiza position then, before bowing her head, the strained smile still on her face. "I am begging you both as my friends to please cover for me after tonight for at least three days."

While Ino once more, did not understand what Sakura was saying, Hinata did, and it upset her to see Sakura so distraught with so little options left. Three was the least number of days it took for a shinobi to travel to Suna on foot without stopping. She was going to leave tonight and become a missing nin.

"Let's go to Ichiraku's! You need to eat." She pulled up Sakura's hand with a forced smile. "What would Naruto Kun say if he finds out you aren't eating well eh?"

* * *

To Sakura's internal surprise and joy, her star student (only student for now) was present there as well waiting for his ramen, tucked away in a corner with a book. Upon closer inspection, revealed it to be the book she told him to study for an oral exam she would give him next week. He was such a diligent boy now wasn't he?

"Konohamaru, are you still studying?" She felt the corners of her lips turn up as she approached him, "I told you to take a break now and then didn't I?"

He stood up and bowed in respect before shooting her a cheeky grin. "I took one this morning by allowing myself to sleep in. Also, I was just beginning to understand this stuff. It's pretty interesting!"

And so, Sakura ended up joining him with her two friends.

She had nearly forgotten how noisy Ino was and was grateful that the blonde was chattering away happily about her own little world; complaining about her lazy boyfriend. The girl could very well somehow take anyone's mind off important things in a matter of seconds; double that with Konohamaru's snide remarks and Hinata's gentle coaxing to calm the both of them before their table attracted too much attention.

Before she knew it, the orange rays signaled that the sun was setting and that the day was ending. And it made her regret every time she turned down Ino's invitations to a girls day out.

"Hey sensei," Konohamaru leaned forward towards the table, an excited grin on his face as he finally noticed the sun going down. "Wanna go to the bar tonight with just the two of us? I want to have a drinking contest with you again!"

"You are underage you little prick." Sakura smiled, flicking a finger against his forehead playfully. "Sixteen year old kids are not allowed in the bar."

"Yes but I can do a transformation jutsu like the last time!" Konohamaru placed two hands together, putting his best pouting face on. "I could transform into an older person and all! Can I pretend to be your long lost nii-san? Last time I was a girl so that didn't work out too well sensei! Strange guys tried to hit on you!"

Sakura silently signaled her friends to leave them alone so that she could relay the sudden news to him, her pleading look going unnoticed by him. As much as she wanted to spend some more time with Sakura, Hinata agreed and gave her a parting hug.

"Be safe." She murmured before dragging Ino away who yelled a loud 'good bye'. Honestly, the moment she finds out what Sakura had planned, she would go up in hysterics. It would be the best to drag her out and explain everything the next day.

"Konohamaru, would you like to take a walk around Konoha with me?"

"Yeah!" He jumped up, tossing a few bills on the table. "Let's go! Teuchi San, I'll be off now! Thanks for the delicious ramen!" The moment after he yelled, he braced himself for the regular punch he would normally receive on his head. Instead, she smiled at him and walked out, not saying another word.

"...She's planning a slow death for me." he muttered to himself as he followed her outside. "Oh and, I forgot to ask, how was the meeting?" He asked, a trickle of worry suddenly inundating him. "Did you tell them off?"

She still didn't say a word, instead smiling and motioning him to follow her. He was a bit confused and yet did not argue with her, instead choosing to walk by her side. Occasionally he'd peer at her face to see what she was thinking but the same expression remained; blank with a ghost of a smile.

"Uh...sensei?"

He blinked as he realized where she had bought him. The graveyard? Why would she bring him here...unless...

"Come on." She smiled wider before walking in. That set him off. With comical horror, the ANBU trainee spun around and attempted to flee, only to have his teacher disable his leg muscles and drag him in by the back of his collar. Konohamaru let out loud screams in hopes that someone would hear him, thrashing around, apologizing for being cheeky and begging her not to bury him underground.

She had done it once as punishment, when she caught him peeking into the girl's public bath and he had been in so deep shock that it took him a week to recover completely. To think she'd go out of her way to actually purchase a coffin and fill it up with spiders and snakes (non-poisonous as she revealed later on) before pushing him in, sealing the top and kicking it 6 feet below before filling it up with sand.

Frightening indeed…

He suspected at times that his dear sensei could very well be a sadist, by the way of observation and from rumors on how she usually treated her enemies,

Once, Genma told him that on one of her missions as a Jounin together with him, she had ripped out the intestines of one of the enemy nin while he was still alive and forced him to eat it because he had tried to use an innocent child as his shield against them. Afterwards, after he apologized, she healed his stomach up, _disabled his arms and legs and dropped him into an eagles nest and watched them eat him alive._

"Sensei don't kill me~" he really did burst out crying then, upon recalling the story. He didn't know whether Genma made it up or not; what mattered was that it nearly made him piss his pants and lose his appetite for anything that had meat for a month. A shame too; since he had to turn down a barbecue which she offered to treat him to upon passing an exam with flying colors.

"Hey guys, how are you today?"

Surprised, he opened his eyes to see that they had arrived in front of the graves of her teammates. He slowly looked up to see her glossy eyes and froze. Something was terribly wrong.

"Sensei?"

Sakura blinked and smiling sheepishly let him have the use of his legs back. "Sorry, you were about to run away so..."

"You never come to this place unless you are greatly upset." Konohamaru interrupted. "Did something happen? Did those two elders do something again?" He took her hands into his hands. "Tell me, sensei!"

She did not reply, staring at their graves before kneeling down in front of the graves and clearing the dead flowers and whatever dirt there was. Higurashi begin to cry out and in the deep orange glow of the sunset, it sounded ominous and unsettling. He watched her place a hand over Naruto's tombstone, her breath hitching.

"Naruto, do you see Konohamaru here? He has become a splendid shinobi as of now. He will become ANBU next week and soon will begin hunting after missing nin." She bowed her head slightly, as if praying for something. "Yeah, he has become quite a wonderful shinobi. He will very well become the sixth Hokage."

"Sensei-"

"I'm leaving Konoha for good."

A large gust of wind blew her hair long back and forth then, and Sakura would have thought that it was an expression of her teammate's slight displeasure if she had thought about it in a whimsical way. But Sakura would not think that way. That time was past, and she thought more practical now, refusing to believe in those 'atrocious and highly ridiculous superstitions' she she put it.

"Tonight will be very cold..." She murmured. "Can you believe it...those dumb elders are telling me to accept the position of Hokage. Stupid isn't it? I told them over and over I wouldn't..and yet they wouldn't accept it. They will announce it tomorrow afternoon and before that, I need to get away..."

She finally turned to look at her pupil and smiled remorsefully. "But before that I have done my part in preparing your student to become the Hokage."

Konohamaru stared at her, completely frozen before he uttered a tiny whimper. "What? You..."

She paused briefly before she looked down on her lap, trying her hardest to not flinch at the hurtful expression on his face. "Really now...they need to respect your feelings too Naruto. I really don't want to be Hokage. I don't deserve it. And that's why I'm leaving. And this will probably be the last time I will visit you-"

"Sensei!" She was abruptly interrupted as Konohamaru took her by the shoulder and shook her hard. "What are you saying!? You can't just decide that!" With that, he took her hand and began dragging her towards the exit. "We're going to go talk to those stupid elders right away! They can't do this!"

"Konohamaru." She sighed, stopping him. With a questioning look, he turned to stare at her face that had a sedate calmness all over it. Her eyes twinkled kindly. "You have been a wonderful student. My duty is done here."

"But-"

"From today we part as student and teacher. I appreciate and cherish the fun years we spent together. I reckon this is how you spent your few years with Naruto as well." She tugged her hand free from his and held up Naruto's 'good guy' thumbs up, adding a meek smile to back it up. "In three days from now, you will embrace your duty as a fully fledged ANBU! And your first mission will be to hunt me down. Don't fail me!"

This could not be happening. His first teacher and friend and left him without as much as a goodbye since long back. While he spent roughly a year with Naruto, he had spent a whole lot more time with Sakura sensei. While Naruto was a great friend, Sakura was a great friend _and _a wonderful teacher. Those four years he had spent with her, she had taught him more things than he wanted to know and had been more of a friend than anyone had ever been to him.

She acted like a big sister to him, guiding him and picking him up when he fell, not complaining the slightest even when he messed up over and over, only harshly berating him when he gave up. She just couldn't leave like this-!

He began pleading with her to stay, to accept the role of Hokage for a few years until his training was complete and then to try stand up for the post. He began berating her for even thinking of a rash decision by herself and argued that this would make Naruto extremely unhappy. Stomping his feet, waving his arms around in gestures, he tried to get a reaction out of her face.

But she just listened patiently before stuffing her hands into her pockets and turning to face the graves of her teammate. He waited for a response; a sigh, a gentle smile, a slap or a pat on the cheek. It never came.

The feeble hope in his chest vanished and he felt his lower lip start to quiver. "Wrong..." he hissed harshly, his hands shaking in anger. "..this is...all wrong!"

With this, he turned and ran, not giving another look back.

The silence that followed served to increase her feeling of desolation and she felt as if there was truly no one in this world who would help her. She felt as if she was falling into a never ending pitch black hole, one she could not escape from. There was no one to catch her, and she knew she could not expect one to do so. The warmth inside of her was dying slowly and she knew it would continue to cease to exist. And she hoped by then, her physical presence too, would be extinct.

She wouldn't grasp at the warmth and try to keep it going on. She would let it die. A part of her told her she was being ridiculous. But then, there was nothing she could do. All her life she had failed others, this time, even if she were failing herself, she wouldn't care. It was done. She began talking to them, as if they existed, explaining how her day went.

She didn't want to leave them. Leaving Konoha will be like leaving a part of her. But she had no choice. They forced her to take this choice. It wouldn't be too bad, she tried to convince herself. Gaara was a great friend and Suna was a wonderful country with joyful people. She would stay there for a while before moving onto another country.

Perhaps she could settle down in a tropical island as a civilian on vacation; permanently.

Whispering farewell, she turning around and slowly walked away. Another burst of wind blew leaves around her, encircling her as if they didn't want her to leave. The cicadas were shrieking into the dying sun now and she felt that she had to leave before her emotions got better of her.

"Winter will be here soon..." She sighed as she stopped briefly and looked back, the final glance at them. The three black polished stones stared back at her, almost as if they expressed utmost grief at her departure. Sucking in a deep breath of air, she started running, ignoring greetings and familiar faces as she flew from rooftop to rooftop.

She needed to pack up soon and go to her mentor; the last one she would see before she left.

* * *

Near midnight, a figure slipped into the Hokage mansion going completely unnoticed by the security shinobi who were slacking off their job. She scowled at them, itching to fling a rock at their heads but chose not to.

She came here to say goodbye to Tsunade; not to throttle stupid shinobi who were slacking off from their duties.

And so, creeping along the halls she glanced around every now and then, knowing that this would be the last time she would see this place; until Konohamaru became Hokage that is. And that would take an awful lot of time.

She felt somewhat sorry for him; perhaps she should've told him off in a less dramatic manner. She liked drama of course; life was boring without it. And farewells were always better off in the sunset with a few tears in a place either one would most likely remember.

…Maybe the graveyard as a bit too much.

…Or maybe even the style of her bidding farewell.

It cannot be helped; she was a strange kunoichi with tendencies to make people cry in cheesy situations and then later feel bad about it.

"Shisou~" She whispered as she opened the door, making the door creak a bit. Knowing her mentor, she would be snoring her head off. Sometimes it was hard to believe that she was the granddaughter of the legendary first Hokage. Then again the god of shinobi himself was a Naruto-typed idiot.

"Hello." She said in a more normal tone as she closed the door behind her. "Shisou are you awake? I'm here to say bye-bye before I take off my heels towards Suna and to hide behind my racoon friend."

"Well that's quite a blunt way to put it," The light flicked on, illuminating the whole room and revealing the busty Hokage seated in an armchair, staring at her with a half-hearted annoyed expression. "A pity; I was expecting you to come and give your old mentor a hug and bawl out your regrets."

"You know me better than that." The pinkette resisted rolling her eyes and she crossed her hands over her chest. "You expected this would happen a long time ago."

"Still," Tsunade sighed as she gracefully rose up, rubbing her temples. "You could have at least pretended to be upset about leaving me. You did a number on poor Konohamaru. He stopped crying only ten minutes ago."

She blinked slowly, once, twice before scanning the room. She spotted the spiky hair giving out his hiding place from the outside window and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger in slight amusement and annoyance. How long had he been sitting outside there exactly?

"Get inside Konohamaru."

"...You are history's worst teacher..._ever._"

"Konohamaru-"

"Why did you have to do all that to me? You made me bawl my eyes out you mean person!"

"…Come on now you are sixteen. Don't talk as if you are a child. And you would have cried either way so what's wrong in putting in a bit of melodrama? Now get inside before you catch a cold or I'll wring your arm before I leave."

Seemingly grudgingly, the trainee ANBU hopped back in, scowling as hard as he could. Still, Sakura couldn't help but notice some merriment in his eyes; the same twinkling she noted whenever he was up to something. Just what was going on?

"What are you doing here stalking the Hokage at this hour Konohamaru?"

"I should be asking you that sensei."

"I was _not _stalking. I walked in like a normal person."

"You crept inside like a crab." He finally broke out into a bright grin, surprising her. "That technique is unnoticeable but it makes you look like a crab with pink hair sensei! You should go back to wearing red because most crabs are red and you'll resemble one even fur- OW! THAT HURTS!"

Tsunade winced as Sakura pinched his ear, tugging it as hard as she could while maintaining a cool face with a ghost of an amused smile. But she didn't need to worry because she let go soon and he laughed right afterwards.

"I need a clear explanation as to what is going on here. Why is my student here?"

Tsunade pursed her lips, turning to the boy hesitantly before taking out a small scroll from pocket of the sleeves of her Yukata and let out a deep sigh.

"He came here bawling his eyes out and somehow I managed to tell him about this scroll…and somehow he managed to yell enough to convince me to trust you with it so we waiting until you would show up."

The Gondaime chuckled at her unchanged expression before all traces of her humor vanished. Slowly, she unraveled the scroll and held it up for her student to see.

"Do you recognize these markings Sakura?"

She shook her head, folding her arms over chest with blatant uninterest. "Is it a parting gift you both are bestowing upon me for defecting from my village?"

"It is more than four hundred years old." Tsunade continued, ignoring her. "And it contains only one jutsu and should this fall into the wrong hands, it could very well destroy the entire world."

"…"

"It was supposedly written by the sage of six paths soon after he sealed the 10 tails in him He gave it to his younger son, who formed the Senju clan, and was passed on to us from generation to generation. My grandfather gifted this to me at his death bed."

She cocked her head. "Do you know what power this scroll holds?"

"You just said it would destroy the entire world if it fell to the wrong hands and that the sage of six paths wrote it himself…" She stifled a yawn before turning around and waving. "It's probably some extreme version of that jutsu Pein used to destroy Konoha or something like what the sage used to create the moon, yatta, yatta, I'm off now."

Honestly, what were they thinking telling her all this now? She was defecting from Konoha; she really didn't need to know anything about this. At least she had something to add to the story she would tell Gaara when she would arrive.

"This scroll enables the user to go back in time, memories and power intact."

She abruptly stopped, her hand frozen over the door knob.

"This scroll will let you travel to the past, back to as long as you wish and in what form you wish to go, with your memories and abilities intact."

A cold bead of sweat slid down her cheek and she forced herself to swallow, her throat seemingly dry all of a sudden. Slowly, she turned to face her mentor, fixing a cold glare upon her. "Stop joking around. How is that even possible?"

"The sage of six paths wrote it and it has been unused ever since. Its the only scroll of it's kind." Tsunade looked away from her student who seemed to be growing furious with each word she said. "It can be used but once, and then the markings disappear forever, never to return. The user will go back as long as she wishes...it is unknown what would happen to the initial time she left after she manages to change it but-"

"_Stop screwing around with me!"_

Konohamaru took large steps back as threatening green chakra began encircling his mentor's hands, up her arms and the seal on her forehead glowed, illuminating her pale face up and with her bared teeth and equally emerald eyes, made her look almost demonic. Tsunade however; did not seem so much as frazzled at the sight of her student in so much anger.

"You mean to say this scroll had been in your possession for this whole time…and you did not use it?!"

Tsunade swallowed hard as she looked down at the piece of rolled up paper in her hands, biting down on her lower lip. Sakura growled at the lack of response.

"Answer me Shisou! Why didn't you go back in time and save Konoha?! You could have stopped the masked man from killing Naruto's parents, could have stopped the Uchiha clan massacre," she sucked in a deep breath of air, shutting her eyes tightly. "Could have stopped the third Hokage's death, Jiraya Sama's death, the shinobi wars-!"

The green chakra slowly vanished as her mentor ungracefully fell back into her chair, her face twisted in pain. Sakura willed herself to calm down and she frowned as she carefully studied her mentor's exhausted looking frame.

"I was close to using this scroll, more than once, just to bring back those I loved." She spoke quietly, looking up at her pupil. "Don't you see Sakura; I am a selfish woman. I am someone who only wants her own loved ones to come only reason why I kept this scroll safely tucked away was because I couldn't find anyone to trust this with." Her grating voice sounded harsh in the now, quiet room and Konohamaru flinched slightly, looking out of the window until it was his time to speak.

"I only wanted to bring back those I loved, should I give it to Naruto he would've probably stopped them from killing his parents but wouldn't understand Sasuke completely and vice versa. Kakashi would of course, would try stop his teammate from dying."

"Should I have had given this to you earlier as well, you would've only stopped what you felt was right; would have only done things for your own interest, unlike who you are right now. You know the truth behind almost everything Sakura; you-"

"Hold up." The ANBU captain held a hand up while the other busied itself by rubbing on the sides of her temple. "Are you trying to convince me to go back in time and to save the whole shinobi world?"

Tsunade blinked, seemingly somewhat annoyed at being interrupted but nodded in response. "…Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

"You're insane."

"Would you rather let what is going on right now continue?" Tsunade snapped, standing right back up with full force. Good lord this girl was going to drive her insane if she wasn't already! "Think about it Sakura, are you really going to lament about what happened in the past or going to actually stand up and fix it with your own hands?"

"How could it ever cross your mind that I, Haruno Sakura, a good for nothing compulsive whiner would succeed in saving the entire world?!" Sakura snorted in an unladylike way as she walked around the room, waving her arms around. "You must be joking around with me Shisou!"

"That was you five years ago." Sarutobi's grandson finally spoke up, a grin on his face once more. "Now you are one of the most badass Kunoichi in the universe!"

"…"

"…In the Shinobi world."

"…"

"Konoha. Most badass Kunoichi in-"

"Cut it out."

Tsunade groaned before tossing the scroll over to her student before turning around and walking towards the window. "Get the hell out of here already."

"Shisou-"

"It's an order. Don't make me regret what I just did. Just think positive and about how you'll get to see Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi again." She mumbled, letting out a sniff and crossing her hands over her chest haughtily.

She stared down at the goddamn scroll in her hands, feeling a twitch start above her left eye. How was she supposed to change time? What exactly was she supposed to do? Not to mention she had no idea of where to start-

"Just so you know, you can wish to go just about anywhere but then the scroll may have a mind of its own and may drop you off some place random," The busty blond turned around with a worried look. "Like deep in the middle of an ocean or something so be prepared."

Well that was reassuring and absolutely handy dandy.

"May I mention that the scroll may shrink you to the size of a little child?" Tsunade added, grinning to herself. "Perhaps as appropriate to the situation…I wouldn't know."

Lovely. Absolutely lovely.

"Are you up for it then, sensei?" She looked at Konohamaru's anxious face and raised an eyebrow in question. "Ya know…I'm going to miss you and all. But I think you still miss your teammates better than I will ever miss you…"

He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another and looked off someplace else with a sad look in his eyes. "I miss Naruto nii-san too. And I think the only person who would be able to take care of him is you. Since boss can be whiny even though he's cool, you can always calm him down with that punch of yours and…"

He looked back up, pouting. "Just do me a favor and become friends with my spoiled brat self if you meet me okay?"

So there was honestly no choice in all this now wasn't it? The two pleading looks the two people she cared for the most currently were making her uncomfortable and she just couldn't walk away. Besides, she suspected that should she turn around, Tsunade-Shisou would start talking aloud about 'the good old times' and bribe her into it anyway.

It was not like she didn't _want _to go. She truly did; she was just a bit unsure of whether she would be able to handle something like this.

"I get it, I get it!" She sighed as she stared down at the scroll. "I'll go. Supposing this piece of crap doesn't work, I'm stealing your famous sake crate before leaving Konoha."

At the fair piece of warning, Tsunade smiled nervously before motioning her to keep the scroll down and to step on it before doing the tiger seal.

Honestly if that was all it took to activate the world's most powerful jutsu, Sakura really didn't hope much for this to work out.

"Just think about a certain scenario and you will probably go there." She heard Tsunade suggest as she closed her eyes.

"Alright, I'm picturing myself falling through the sky towards the training ground where Uchiha Itachi and Little Sasuke are playing." She mumbled with sarcasm thick in her voice. Honestly, she did not expect this to work out at all.

And honestly, she did _not _expect for the ground to give way and for her to feel herself actually falling. Opening her eyes, she let out a shriek as she saw a forest floor approaching her steadily and on reflex, put her hands out in front of her to brace herself for the impact.

Only to see some pale stick placed in front of her.

"WHY IN THE NAME OF CHOCOLATE PUDDING HAVE MY HANDS SHRUNK!?" She yelled, moments before she landed stomach first on the top most branch of a tree. "…Ow."

Slowly, she tried to get up, only to succeed in slipping off the branch and falling again; this time into a pile of thick leaves that barely cushioned her fall. Disorientated and too numb to actually feel any pain, she tried to heal herself only to find out that she was severely depleted of chakra.

Judging how she felt, she probably broke several ribs, fractured a leg, an arm, and possibly had a bad concussion because there was a boy who resembled Sasuke who was staring at her with wide eyes. There was someone hiding behind him and her vision was too fuzzy to make anything out properly.

"Ugh…" she whispered hoarsely before she fell backwards once more. Darkness consumed her before she even hit the ground and she drifted off into a dreamless trance, wondering what she had just gotten herself into.

* * *

**Q&A section/authors notes**

**I edited this chapter because I was unhappy with how half-heartedly I had written the original chapter. To those who have read my previous chapter, you would find that I have changed quite a lot here (and probably will to chapter two somewhat as well), mainly about Sakura's personality.**

**I realized that I made Sakura a bit too depressed and dead in the first chapter and it ticks me off to have not noticed earlier. I don't know what I have exactly done with her personality here but it sure is not completely depressive. **

**In any case I think how she is in the first chapter somewhat fits how she acts later on so there shouldn't be a problem. Honestly, editing and proofreading takes a lot of time. Anyway, I apologize for the inconvenience and do hope you would take your time in reading this further! **

**And to answer some other questions:**

**~Yes, Sakura is somewhat loose in the head. I wouldn't call it mental at all. However, she is has become quite unusual considering what happened to her five years ago...something like what happened to Kakashi. I mean, he is goofy and somewhat crazy too (in his own amazing way) and I think incidents like that change people...for the good or for the bad.**

**~ This is a non-massacre/Alternative Universe/time-travel fic and I will try make this as realistic as possible. Heh~!  
**

**~...I would not say that Sakura IS a sadist but I would also refrain from saying that she is NOT a sadist. That's up to you all to decide; I think it would become a bit more obvious in the later chapters. **

**~ In the original chapter I had Neji approach Sakura. Since Neji...passed away in the manga I decided to replace him with Shikamaru in order to make it somewhat more realistic. Also, Shikamaru is closer to Sakura so I think it's not a bad change. **

**If there are anymore questions, feel free to message me or mention it in the reviews~! ^.^/ **

**Your reviews and comments help me to continue writing. So, please review on it! Thank you!**


	2. Chapter 2

"You have made us proud today, Itachi. That's my boy." The rich voice intoned as stern eyes softened with utmost approval as it gazed upon the small child in front of him.

Charcoal eyes closed and lips set into a grim line as the boy lowered his head in respect, before the man who just praised him. He knew he had yet again made his clan members, his family proud. It showed so on his father's face.

"Are you tired dear?"

The young Uchiha shook his head and smiled slightly as he looked up at the gentle voice, belonging to the beautiful Uchiha Matriarch, his kind and serene mother. He felt his vest, the Chuunin vest which was the prize given to him a while ago, being tugged out of his hands by smaller ones.

Little eyes widened imperceptibly, as they gaped at the green jacket, tiny lips mouthing a perfect 'o' shape. "Nii-san!" He grinned as he hugged his brother. "You looked so awesome out there! You took that creeper down without even getting a single injury!"

Though his little brother made it sound as if all what he did out there was entirely effortless, the young Uchiha genius did not escape unscathed from the rough Mist Nin he faced up against. It was no wonder they were labeled as the 'Blood Shinobi'. They truly lived up to their name, and their rough fighting skills were truly not to be messed with.

And yet, the 14 year old shinobi was taken down easily by the elite ten year old, _Uchiha. _The Mist Shinobi, in his pride had overlooked the fact that he had the sharingan, even more the fact that he had already mastered it well. He felt a stabbing pain in his left rib, where the insane person managed to land a kick on. Though not a medic, his knowledge enabled him to understand that he had broken a few ribs.

Itachi had been caught off guard when the Mist Shinobi managed to move after he made an otherwise, disabling wound to his stomach and using that to his advantage, landed a powerful blow to just below his left ribcage. The fact that he was wearing iron covered boots only aggravated it.

To his credit, the Uchiha did not make a sound to announce his physical distress, never mind the fact that he was still pale from the pain. As an Uchiha, the heir to the clan, injures like this would not matter an ounce. He was merely a tool for his clan, for the wrathful clan elders who demanded nothing but perfection.

"Train me!" The boy demanded petulantly, a frown marring his face as he tugged impatiently on his brother's shirt. "You promised you would! You _promised_!"

"Hai Sasuke..." Itachi smiled wearily. "Let's go."

Fugaku started frowning in disapproval, only to be stopped by his wife. "Let them be dear." She said softly. "After all, the exams are over. We need to talk to the elders. It would take a while."

At the small grunt, Sasuke cheered as he grasped his brother's hand. "Let's go! And wear the Chuunin vest! I want to let _everyone _see how powerful you became today! Just you wait! I'm gonna be as powerful as you one day!"

Though smiling on the outside, Itachi flinched inwardly at the innocent declaration. But he chose not to say anything against it, and let his impatient little brother drag him off to god knows where. He wasn't surprised when they reached the training grounds where he often visited. It was normally reserved for Genin and Chuunin, and Sasuke often visited his brother while he trained.

"Train me!" He parroted again, grinning at him with wide eyes.

"How about I train you later?" Itachi asked. He really was not in any mood to fight or train after the battle, also, being surrounded by his clan members made him slightly suffocated and all he wanted to do now was to relax. At Sasuke's face, he smiled and bending down, poked his forehead. "Shall we play a game instead?"

The younger Uchiha pouted and crossed his hands over his chest, trying his best to look like his strict father. Unknown to him, it only served to enhance his adorable features and Itachi had to bite down laughing at how ridiculously his brother failed at trying to intimidate him.

"I'm not a child!" He huffed.

"Even if you are not, we can still play a game." Itachi smiled wider at his attitude. When Sasuke didn't seem to be compromising, he decided to add in the 'magic' word. "Its a game shinobi play." He was not disappointed, and he watched his little brother jump up and down, screaming with glee. Somehow, he managed to get the ball of energy under control and soon began explaining the rules which he made up on the spot.

"The objective of the game is to find as many rabbits as you can."

"How is that going to help Shinobi become better?"

"Easy." Itachi grinned as he ruffled up Sasuke's messy head. "Rabbits are hard to catch. Chasing one would be difficult considering how nimble they are...it would improve your speed." He watched his brother's eyes light up with realization and continued,"After you find the rabbit, catch it and bring it back. Let's see how many rabbits each of us catch."

"YOSH! I'M OFF!" Sasuke yelled and ran away into the bushes without so much as hesitation, leaving the newly minted Chuunin brother of his to sit back to relax a bit, now that his surroundings were finally silent. Things such as these put him at ease, away from all the burdening responsibilities even if for a little while. The boy appreciated it well and enjoyed how his brother found pleasure in dragging him away from duties. He was not a slacker. Rather, he wanted to elevate some of the burden on himself.

The genius had no idea of how different he was from others, until they allowed him to graduate far earlier than anyone else in the academy. It couldn't be helped after all. He could not, _not _use the gift that was given to him. He was gifted and he was to use that well.

"Nii-san I found a rabbit!"

He chuckled as he heard his brother scampering around noisily, screaming once in a while to try see if the creature would freeze in fear. A while passed before he heard a frustrated groan and the sounds of heavy movements stop. It must have escaped.

"Sasuke, don't go too-" He started, only to stop in mid-sentence as he felt an alarming level of chakra spike up right above where they were. Acting on his reflexes the little genius shot up, a kunai already in hand and he watched in mild fascination and worry as a ball of white formed, increasing in size steadily; only to shrink back as quickly as it appeared.

And it left behind a person floating in mid-air who began pummeling back downwards face-first. He was positive he heard a shriek before said person began flailing about.

"Sasuke!" He took off in order to find his sibling, fearing that he maybe in danger. Thankfully, he was not too far from where he was and he managed to take a step in front of him just as the being fell into a bush. She should've been dead judging from the height she fell and he was about to take a step closer to inspect further, only to be taken aback as she moved.

With his sharingan flashed on, he could easily make out that the girl as he made out, was no less older than he was, severely injured and was depleted of chakra. And yet she could still sit up and stare at them.

With pink hair, half-lidded jade eyes, pale skin and a confused look overall, she looked as if she could hardly pose a threat to them. Then again, he had been taught to never underestimate anyone. And how could he possibly do that in this situation, considering that she just fell out of the sky in a large ball of white chakra?

Just as he was sure that she was about to say something, she became limp and fell backwards. He was beside her within seconds, preventing her from making contact with the ground and shot a warning look at Sasuke to stay where he was before he set on to inspect her thoroughly.

It was not hard to miss the enormous gash on the side of her waist that made a few thick rivers of blood run down to soak into the ground. It was obvious that she would die if not treated immediately and whether or not she was a threat to Konoha, she needed to be alive in order for interrogation.

So he set on dressing up the wound with the few rolls of bandages he had as quickly as possible, glancing at Sasuke every now and then in order to make sure he was alright. In the midst of the quick procedure however, she uttered something that made him freeze in place.

"Naruto..."

She knew of the Kyuubi container. It was something that children around her age should have no idea of and he was positive that she couldn't be a shinobi of Konohakagure considering he had not even seen her once around the village. Not many people existed who had pink hair -this was the first time he would be seeing it- and he knew of no kunoichi with the odd hair color.

"Sasuke kun..."

'Ridiculous! How could she-' He looked at Sasuke with a worried expression, who looked just as flabbergasted as he did. Could it be that Sasuke had made friends with the both? It was highly unlikely considering Sasuke was almost always within their sights. However, the genius could think of no other possible explanation. Dozens of possible situations began forming in his mind; she was a spy, a friend of Naruto, was attacked by him and therefore was injured-

This had to be reported to the Hokage immediately.

"Sasuke!" He said quietly, urgency in his voice. "Come. We are going to the Hokage! Hurry and get on my back-"

He paused then, as he felt hands clenching on his shirt and looked down, to see her eyes barely open, the leaf green orbs staring up at him. Before he could say a word however, she smiled weakly before her hand dropped to her side once more.

Her action on served to make him even more worried than he currently was, about her present health and for the safety of Konoha. The Uchiha ran.

* * *

"Strange...very strange indeed..." Sarutobi sighed as he blew out a puff of smoke. He observed the girl lying on the hospital bed carefully, but with concern. She was but, a small child around Itachi's age, if not younger and heavily injured to the point she was on the brink of death not too long ago.

Those heavy injuries were healing themselves, as well as her chakra quickly replenishing itself. Both he and the newly minted Uchiha Chuunin were surprised to find out what large amount of chakra she possessed. There was no doubt that she was a shinobi, but of which rank, they were not sure yet. It was obvious that she could not be a mere genin or even Chuunin.

They would have to wait until she woke up. Sarutobi spared a glance at the younger brother, who was asleep on one of the chairs. Just what did this girl know about Naruto and Sasuke?

The Chuunin exams were over just a while ago, and after nearly three days of absolute lack of sleep, he was yet again in another crisis. A big one.

A strange girl who appears out of nowhere with a dangerous injury that could have killed her, murmurs names of two children she was not supposed to know. Itachi was to stay because he needed to know the reason why. And Uchiha were stubborn whether they were old or not. So he just sent a message to his parents stating that he was familiarizing the young Uchiha about Chuunin duties in order for them to leave him alone for a while.

Hiruzen took another long drag on his pipe to calm his nerves. If this girl was a spy, they were in deep trouble. Very deep trouble. He considered that possibility as a safety measure, even though it was highly unlikely considering spies disintegrated their bodies the moment they were found out. Itachi had informed him that she had briefly awakened before they arrived; she just smiled up at him before falling unconscious once more.

The young genius was just silently scrutinizing the girl, waiting for her to wake up. At the rate she was healing up, Sarutobi was sure she would soon and that was the reason he was waiting patiently.

"If she doesn't wake up soon, we might have to resort to mind probing. Possibly with Ibiki." Sarutobi finally broke the silence, and Itachi looked up, looking shocked at the words.

"Hokage sama..." He said quietly.

"I know it is painful. Yet if she doesn't wake up soon, we will have to resort to it." He said gravely, taking a seat beside her. "What she knows may not be good for Konoha."

"If possible...we should wait..." Itachi looked down at her.

That was Itachi. So kindhearted and too gentle. Sarutobi even wondered why this child was still a shinobi. A too forgiving and gentle shinobi as this would probably be taken advantage of greatly, sooner or later. And Sarutobi dreaded that day where this innocent boy would be taken control of.

"I know Itachi. But you and I both know that, this girl uttered something she should not have known. What if she is aware of Naruto's parents? We do need to consider that scenario. We need to take steps ahead and always be prepared." He said as he eyed the boy. "Whenever things like this occur, it is always best to think of the possible and even the unlikely scenarios to be prepared."

Itachi nodded softly, in agreement to the wise old man's words. As he opened his mouth to reply however, a loud groan emitted from the pinkette.

"Oww..." She muttered. "What the hell?"

"Tsunade Shisou...it didn't work did it?" The girl continued to mutter, eyes still firmly shut. But one hand rose up to her forehead. "Shit...my forehead hurts like hell. I am going to motherfu-"

Sarutobi just quickly covered Itachi's ears. Whether the kid was aware of those words or not mattered not to him; his grandfatherly instincts would not, under any circumstances, allow any children to hear such words. He was still recovering from the shock that the girl would really utter such words...and the fact that Sakura called his student her teacher. Had Tsunade sent her here?

Quickly masking his chakra, he dragged the Uchiha behind a screen and motioned him to stay silent, to observe what the girl's reaction would be once she woke up and saw Sasuke sleeping in the chair next to her. While aware that he might be putting Sasuke into danger, he needed to find out how exactly she'd react to waking up in an unknown place.

Meanwhile, the now fully awakened yet slightly disorientated Sakura was not enjoying a bit of how she was feeling right now. Though she had a moderate to high pain tolerance, she still hated it whenever she was put in a sorry condition. Judging by the smell, she was probably in the hospital where Tsunade Shisou may have immediately rushed her to.

Of course, she didn't expect the scroll to work. She tried it out just for the sake of humoring the two and because of it, she ended up being teleported somewhere high above land and nearly got crushed to death. Never again, would she do this. Realization struck her then and she froze, her eyes suddenly snapping open.

Which day was it? How long had she passed out? Did the old two wretches announce that she became Hokage?

"It can't be..." she gasped as she sat up quickly, ignoring the pain that shot up through her entire chest. "I couldn't have become...I couldn't..." Had her mentor planned all this from the beginning so that she wouldn't leave Konoha? It must have been just that seeing how things have had turned out. Rage pooled inside her stomach and glaring distastefully at the IV, she reached to tear it off, only to notice that something was different.

She felt lighter...and smaller.

"My arm...it really _did _shrink! I didn't dream after all!" She let out a loud gasp as she looked at both of her limbs. She drew the blankets back in order to reveal her legs and could only marvel at the sight. They were small...as well was bright and smooth with absolutely no hint of any scarring which she obtained from years of experience as an ANBU.

"Tomato...pudding..."

Oh dear lord. Just how could she have missed the boy who was napping blissfully, curled up in the big armchair right beside the hospital bed? It was none other than a baby version of her once crazy teammate, Uchiha Sasuke. Screw the crazy part; he looked like an angel who just fell from the heavens. She recalled that fell as well but it wasn't from heaven. How on earth did she get herself so high up anyway?

Tsunade _did _say that the jutsu may do something like that. So it meant that she really _was _in the past now. And she now had a faint idea of how far back she was in, growing slightly flustered as she recalled looking up at Uchiha Itachi's worried face before passing out...twice. How utterly embarrassing. And here she had vowed to never, _ever _fall unconscious in the presence of another person no matter how weak she was.

Never mind that she was dying and that it was a complete legit reason; she was going to sulk about this for days straight.

"Hey! Sasuke's big brother come out. I know you are there." She called out, rubbing the back of her neck lazily. "I owe you a thank you for saving my life."As she suspected, he came out from his hiding place, an intense look on his face as she scrutinized her. Here comes the ever careful Uchiha Itachi; hero of Konoha...the most well known masochist she knew. Masochist she says...because she just loved calling stupid people nicknames. How many people did she know to go so far as to taunt their little brother enough to make him try kill their elder sibling, only to smile and die and let his said sibling try destroy the entire universe?

"Well hi," she raised an eyebrow when it was clear that he was not going to talk for a long time. "Nice to see you, Itachi Uchiha. I must say you look very different from when I last saw you."

"...Who are you?" His tone was surprisingly deeper, for a child. He walked forward slowly, but steadily, never once taking his hard stare off her. It made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but she had absolutely had no trouble in keeping a straight expression on.

This was Uchiha Itachi she was dealing with. However innocent and childishly cute he looked right now, he was a genius, an overachiever, the perfectionist and the highly perspective to-be ANBU captain. He was probably an emotionless robot, who served directly under Konoha and therefore, would not hesitate if the Hokage so much as told him to slit her throat and throw her into a barrel of acid. Of course, the Hokage would not do that, but all the same, she had to be cautious.

She blinked and drew back as he raised a hand towards her, holding up an arm in a reflex to protect herself. He looked momentarily stunned before he retracted it and stuffed it into his pocket.

"You are scared of me." He stated, making her snort. "I do not recall ever meeting you before; I doubt I could have hurt you in any form."

"I'm not scared of you." She muttered immediately, only to pause and correct her sentence. "I used to be but now am not. I will not explain myself any further until the Hokage arrives." She fixed her eyes towards him and frowned. "Unless he sent you here to interrogate me?"

"I must say I am quite impressed as well as worried thinking of who you may be dear child," she blinked as the Hokage stepped out from behind the screen, a grave look on his face. She had almost forgotten how it looked like and seeing it up close after all this time gave her a nostalgic feeling of back from her academy days when she used to make flower crowns for him to wear on.

...Unfortunately the nostalgic memories that rushed through her head made her cringe. Why, oh why did she have to be such a useless, physically weak twat who-

"Explain yourself to us."

"Uh...I..." She started off lamely, only to realize that if she were to explain herself, she would have to go over every single detail of the very things she did not want to talk about. How was she supposed to do that?

First of all, she had not even expected for the scroll to work so waking up and seeing a mini Sasuke with the face of a sleeping angel was not something she had expected. Right now, there were so many emotions running through her that she could barely even think properly. What should she tell them? Where should she start? Would they even believe her?

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell us who you are." Sarutobi lit up his pipe, not once taking his eyes off her. "I presume that should be the easiest to start with."

"My name is Sakura." She sucked in a deep breath as she started, her heart starting to hammer inside her chest with half-excitement and half fear. "I am a shinobi from the leaf and…well…actually was. I can't be considered a shinobi of this time…"

With an exasperated sigh, she turned to Itachi. "May I have a glass of water? My throat feels rather scratchy."

She watched as the boy moved to the counter and pour her a glass before handing it over to her, no emotion whatsoever on his face. His _face. _His eyes showed curiosity. She uttered a quiet 'thank you' before accepting the liquid given to her and drowned it down quickly. She was going to have to explain this in a way that would not shock them, and in a way that they could accept it all.

She remembered her _Shisou _telling her that she could always trust her teacher in anything. She knew she could trust Itachi as well. The boy had always put Konoha before his clan, a pacifist who would avoid try conflict at any cost.

She had to trust them and tell them everything in order to make them trust her properly.

As she lowered the glass, she looked into the eyes of the Hokage and prepared herself for the explanation she was about to give.

"What I am about to explain is very long...it would be better if you take a seat Hokage Sama."

The old man raised an eyebrow before slowly sitting on the chair beside her bed. Itachi's arms crossed over his chest, as he looked at her sideways, leaning against the bed.

She took a deep breath and sighed, wondering how to start her story. She decided that she would just say where she came from first and continue it from there. But first she had to determine which time she had arrived at. She looked at the young Uchiha once more.

"Itachi san," She began. "How old are you?"

"..." The Uchiha turned to look at the Hokage who nodded in approval. "Ten."

"When did you become Chuunin?"

"...Today."

She ran a hand through her hair then, feeling her soft locks against her fingers; baby soft fingers that were not yet calloused by the hard life of shinobi. "I must be nine years old...judging by how I feel and look right now."

She saw shock cross the professor's face and sighed. Before the astounded old man could utter a word out of his mouth, she began talking.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, and I am 12 years from the future, having come to warn you about the horrible events that happened in my time."

The sentence alone, she knew, had a powerful effect on the two people in the room. The Hokage's eyes were wide, as he stared at her, an astonished look on his face while Itachi just looked taken aback.

"In brief, I came to stop several mishaps from happening." She continued as she looked down at her lap which was covered by the white hospital sheet, urging herself silently to try stay calm and not to snap. "I came to prevent deaths from happening. I came to prevent a war from happening."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a look of abashed horror cross Itachi's face, eyes widening, lips slightly parting as his pupils constricted, a hand gripping the rails of the bed so tightly, his knuckles turned white.

The sight alone made her flinch inwardly. Uchiha Itachi was one who had experienced the terrifying outcomes of the war when he was only around four to five years old. To hear that another one was to happen near future would of course, petrify him. After all, it had barely been five years since the dreads of war stopped…and then news about another one near future.

She began to feel guilty, wondering whether she should have first, told the Hokage to send the boy out. But then, the reasonable part of her mind told her that he needed to know this, since he was one of the people who played a major part in her time. He was the one who could truly change the time.

"From the future...a war..." The hokage repeated, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Terrible happenings…from the future…"

Silence prevailed in the room then, and Sakura waited for the hokage to motion her to continue to explain further. She wondered whether he believed her. After all, she was just an odd girl who appeared out of nowhere with a ridiculous story. Chances were that he would either enroll her up in a mental institution here or he would lock her up in prison.

It was after all, an unbelievable story anyone could make up on the spot.

However, just as she was about to ask the question, the old man rose and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I suspect that you were one from the description Itachi gave…but to think I would get to meet a real time traveler here…"

He thought of it? To be expected from 'The professor' of course. He must have seen his share of odd things in his life and this would add to it.

"If you still doubt me, I would dictate everything that has happened from my point of view," She placed a hand over where her heart was and nodded. "I will not lie to you Hokage Sama."

He chuckled and waved a hand in dismissal, suddenly looking paler and more tired than he initially looked. "No, I should believe you. After all, it is not every day you see a little girl dropping from the sky in a ball of light. Have you come here willingly little girl?"

"...I would not say unwillingly." She chose her words carefully. "To be honest, the scroll which sent me here…I didn't really expect it to work even though I was hoping it would. I was entrusted with this task and I honestly don't think that I could really change time on my own."

Her eyes slowly drifted towards a surprised looking Itachi before looking back down to her own hands. "There are quite a few things that I am unable to do on my own and I will need help from the Hokage and the Uchiha clan."

"Why the Uchiha clan?"

"Because they played in important part in the future happenings. There are traitors here within Konohakagure Hokage Sama," at the mention of treachery, the old man stiffened up quickly, eyes growing hard. "Uchiha were the ones who helped Konoha to suppress them, but not for long as they were overpowered."

"By who?"

"Traitors within their own clan-" she was cut off in mid sentence by a coughing fit which to her dismay continued for a near minute and left her with a scratchy throat with the taste of blood tinged within her throat. It was obvious that she could not sit for a long time to explain everything to them and besides, she needed Tsunade Shisou, Jiraya Sama, Kakashi and the renowned genius Uchiha Shisui and his father to be present to hear it.

They were the only ones she could pick out to trust for now.

Hiruzen meanwhile was thinking of what steps to take from now on. Surely if she were from the future, she would probably know best of where to stay and what to do and he had to consult her about it. She should very well be aware of the tense relationship between the Uchiha and Konoha judging by the way she spoke and he wondered whether he should place her in the head family's care as a sign of trust.

The top priority right now of course, was where this child was going to stay. Surely he couldn't keep a strange girl by herself within Konoha. The elders would find out sooner or later as a big ball of light in the sky was not something many would miss.

They had planted many ANBU and Danzo had spread his root members all over Konoha and around it and he was sure that he must be investigating it right now. So he quickly came to a decision.

For now, entrusting her with the Uchiha would be the wisest choice. Ever since the Kyuubi incident, the Council of Konoha had blamed the Uchiha for the mishap and in turn, the Dojutsu owners had not taken kindly to the blame. Ever since then, there had been growing enmity between the two, and Hiruzen felt powerless even as the Hokage.

She was extremely important to the village right now and should he place her in their care, the ice could melt, even a bit.

"I put my trust in you then." He spoke, making the two children look over to him."However, regarding your health right now, I will have to send you somewhere safe. Also the situation right now won't let me be able to attend to this at the moment. Spending some time with your village will give you a glimpse of how everything is right now."

"Itachi," the young prodigy stiffened and stared up at him, nodding quickly. "This girl will be staying with your family from now on."

"Wait…what?!" Sakura blinked quickly, wondering as if she just heard that right. "Hokage Sama, I am perfectly capable of taking care of-"

He ignored her protests in the background and continued. "Since she seems to be very familiar with the Uchiha, I suppose letting her stay with you until her mission is over won't be a big deal?"

"Of course not Hokage Sama." Itachi answered, to the pink haired girl's ultimate dismay.

"Do not by any circumstance reveal that she is from the future. This is a secret between both of us for now. I will send a letter to your parents saying that we are entrusting them with an important person for the time being so that they would take it better when you actually arrive with her. In the meantime why don't you show her around the village?"

"Stop making these decisions without me! I still exist you know!"

The loud shriek only served to waken up the peacefully napping Uchiha Sasuke, much to her chagrin. The boy blinked slowly, looking around with a grumpy look on her face before his dark eyes settled on Sakura. He paused, as if seemingly wondering who on earth she was, before his face scrunched up in surprise and he jumped out of his chair.

"It's the pretty lady from the forest!" He declared pointing at her. "How do you feel now? I found you and rescued you!"

She stared at his face and posture, trying to decide whether to spring out of the bed and give him a bone crushing hug or to run around Konoha while screaming in happiness. She opted to just smile at him.

"Why thank you." She smiled. "My name is Sakura. And you are?"

"MY NAME IS SASUKE UCHIHA!" He grinned but then frowned. "But then you said my name in your sleep. How do you know me?"

She panicked. Of all the things she panicked because her mind had melted with happiness from seeing Sasuke and hearing his voice...and she could not think of a good reason to give as to why she knew him. And who was the best person to put the blame on in her state of panic? Turning to Itachi, she pointed to him and grinned as wide as she could, nervously at that.

"He told me _all _about you!" She declared. "Your big brother and I are kind of friends you see so he boasts about you all the time. How can I not know?"

Predictably, Sasuke turned a deep shade of red and smiled in a way that made her heart squeeze as he rubbed the back of his head. "Uh...wow...that's cool..." After that little murmur, the little five year old sent a disapproving glance at his older brother. How could he abandon such a pretty lady in the forest like that? His friend nonetheless! This pink haired girl surely seemed to like him a lot, having talked about him in her sleep.

Sasuke found an immediate attraction to this girl, who seemed to care for him so much. Her very actions seemed to prove it. Who else called out for him when they were in distress? Only her of course. And so, he voiced his disapproval of his beloved niisan's acts out loud, much to the older Uchiha's mortification.

Meanwhile, the Hokage watched with amusement, knowing that he made the right decision about letting Sakura stay with the Uchiha. At least, this girl would probably make Itachi's life a bit more interesting - if not a living hell by the way she just quickly pinned a 'crime' on him- and fun. She was as loud as Naruto when the boy was throwing one of his tantrums.

Noting how she mentioned Tsunade, they probably were close and she probably inherited the woman's furious temper; which Hiruzen quickly hoped she did not. One Tsunade was enough, and another Tsunade would just be trouble for everyone. With twice the temper, colorful words and brash attitude, this girl probably wouldn't be one to mess with.

"Well then." Sarutobi chuckled, making Sasuke stop his scolding of the now, pouting Itachi who sent a half glare towards a Sakura with an apologizing look. "Sasuke why don't you go on home? I'll send an ANBU with you with a message. This girl will be staying at your household for a good long time because-"

Before the Hokage could even complete his sentence, the impulsive boy was already jumping up and down, holding the girl's arm, uncaring whether there were IV needles attached to it. The action prompted Itachi to step forward and pull him away before he could do any serious harm to the Haruno. As powerful as she might be, right now, the girl was in a weakened state. The jutsu she used had sucked away most of her chakra, leaving barely enough for her to live.

Even if it were replenishing, he knew she was still fatigued and needed good rest, even if she didn't show it. So with a bit of hard convincing, the kid agreed reluctantly to leave the nine year old behind and to return home with the escort. Once they were gone, with narrowed eyes, he turned to regard the Haruno.

"Uh...sorry about that. I panicked." She smiled, scratching her cheek with a single finger. She was already aware of Uchiha and their lack of speech so decided that Itachi should not be that hard to handle. _She hoped._

"You could have merely told him that you had another teammate who shared the same name as he did." He stated quietly.

"I could have." She frowned. "But I didn't. So I just said what was on my mind..."

He just stared at the girl, who was supposedly now, supposed to live in his home until either her mission was completed or the Hokage decided otherwise. She would certainly be a disruption to his normally calm, -boring- life. He briefly wondered what his parent's would say of this before his thoughts went back to about her.

_A time traveler_

A girl who had come all the way from her own time, in order to fix other people's mistakes, in order to prevent those who were close to her from dying. She had but, one single chance to fix things, and she had taken it upon herself to try change everything.

"You know, you should smile more." Her words seemed to surprise him and he looked at her curiously, yet again, at her smiling face. "A smile can really brighten your insides up as well as make the day of someone else brighten up. Another plus point towards you, you'd look really a lot better."

"...Smiling without a cause has no benefit." Was his dry reply.

The words were reminiscent of what she had told Sai, a very long time ago. The man who became an active ANBU member soon after the war, becoming one of her life-long friends.

_"Sometimes, even a smile can get you out of the toughest situations."_

Itachi blinked, surprised at her choice of words. Before he could even begin to think about it however, she let out a groan. "Good god I'm starving..."

"I shall call the nurse to free you." He stood up, only to be stopped by Sakura's hand motion. He watched as she carefully removed the needle and kept it at her side. Then she jumped off her bed and the first thing she did was to walk in front of the mirror attached to one of the walls.

At that, Itachi deduced two things. Either she was one who liked escaping from hospitals often and used the knowledge to flee as early as possible, or she was a nurse back in her early profession. However, being a nurse was highly unlikely as, if she were a shinobi, she would not have time to be on a 24 hour shift every day. So Itachi decided she was a medic nin of some sort. It made sense at least.

"Good god..." She sounded irked as she carefully looked at herself, head to toe. "I am back to being a midget again. Bangs...maybe I should keep these for the time being..."

He raised an eyebrow as she continued talking to herself. He wondered who in the right mind would talk to themselves, by standing in front of a mirror. Perhaps she hit her head a little too hard from the fall. Or maybe it was side effects of the jutsu-

"Anou!" She called, bringing his attention back to her. "There is Ichiraku's here right?"

* * *

"A girl?"

"Yes." The ANBU said quietly. "The Hokage requested she be kept safely within your premises until something is done to ensure her safety. She a shinobi with a mission and it requires help from the Uchiha."

Fugaku regarded the ANBU standing in front of him, arms crossed over his chest, frowning as he contemplated it. What would be so important for the Hokage to entrust some strange girl in their safety? Was it another sign that the Hokage merely wanted a peace treaty than conflicts?

He knew that the Hokage was trying his best to try pacifying the silent conflicts between the Uchiha and the Konoha Council, even though he seemed to be powerless to actually do anything about it. It was perhaps either a sign that he trusted them, or that the girl was here with a ulterior motive. As if sensing what he was thinking, the ANBU bowed his head.

"The Konoha Council knows nothing of the girl yet Fugaku San."

So it was a sign that the Hokage trusted them. Pleased, though still slightly wary of the thought that a strange girl was to live in their home for god knows how long. Still, he knew he really had no choice.

"Very well." He closed his eyes, "When will she be arriving?"

"In a few minutes. She around Itachi Kun's age so there should not be much trouble…" The ANBU straightened up, seemingly wanting to get out of the Uchiha's intense glare as quickly as possible. "I will take your leave now."

Fugaku nodded and man wasted no time into disappearing in a poof of smoke. He turned around to see his youngest son, talking quickly, explaining all what he knew about the girl.

"-You should've seen her Okaachan!" The boy said excitedly, gripping her hands tightly, a large grin on his face showing that he had taken an immediate liking to the girl. "She was so _pretty_. But then she was lying there like someone beat her up _really _bad! And she was all like 'I'm going to save you next time' 'I'll protect this and who' something! But then she was so _pretty.._almost as pretty as you mom!"

Well that was pleasing to know. Uchiha Fugaku was absolutely not pleased by this girl, even though she was entrusted to them as a sign of trust. He hoped that Itachi would at least stay away from her. Girls were deadweights, people who didn't really fit in the title of a shinobi. Also they were a distraction to others. If one were to stay here, she would just probably distract his son from his duties.

Also, considering that this long term 'mission' was given to them immediately after Itachi's promotion to Chuunin, it was slightly suspicious. Fugaku was well aware that Itachi was the youngest boy to ever become Chuunin at this age for his time, making him stand out against others. It was possible that she could be a spy over them. One could never be too careful in the shinobi world.

"Fugaku." His wife's voice made him looked up from his thinking. She had a wide smile on her face, making it clear that she was happy about what was going on right now. "I am going to prepare the guest room. Would you mind taking care of Sasuke until then? He wants to give her a gift."

"OTOUSAN LET'S GO!" The boy squealed as he tugged on his father's hand, dragging him outside. Fugaku was absolutely not pleased at all. This was supposed to be the time where Itachi took Sasuke off to train, leaving him a peace of mind.

* * *

Five big bowls.

The little pink haired girl had finished five, big, bowls of Miso Ramen. And was already through her sixth one. By merely watching her, Itachi felt a slight stomachache start to come on the way. Who knew such a delicate girl could have such a voracious appetite? By the look on the ramen stall's owner, and the giddy look on her face, he knew that this place was going to become a regular for her, if it wasn't already.

"How could your stomach even handle through all that?" He asked, making her stop her slurping for a while and turning to glare at him. It was a funny sight really.

"I am hungry." She stated. "Obviously I can eat through it!"

"You will get fat."

"No I won't!" She turned back to her bowl of noodles. "I train a lot to make up for it."

The Uchiha was barely through his first bowl and he was already losing his appetite. He looked down at it, wondering how he was going to finish this meal.

"What a healthy appetite!" Teuchi declared, laughing loudly, wiping his hands with a cloth piece. "You should drop by more often!"

"I will!" She shot him a grin. "I absolutely love this ramen!"

"Well it seems like Itachi san doesn't really have the appetite for ramen. He always eats too healthy I say." Ayame giggled, making Sakura look at him with a raised eyebrow and then looked down at his ramen bowl.

"EAT."

He stared blankly back at her, then at the empty bowls stacked her by her side, and then back at his. Feeling his stomach squelch, he pushed it away, muttering that he was done. The next thing he knew, Sakura was holding his bowl, pointing it to his face. Drawing back slightly, he shook his head, repeating that he was really finished.

At that, she took his bowl and emptied it. Drowned it down. Completely. If he didn't feel sick already…

"Shall we leave then?" He asked quietly. She nodded, thanking Teuchi and Ayame for the meal. He paid for their meal and then two were on the way to his home. She seemed happier now that she got something in her stomach.

After a while, the girl decided to start a conversation with him. After all, she going to live in house wasn't she? It would be better if she started to get to know him and the others well.

"So tell me about yourself Itachi san." She said turning to him. At his curious looking face, she decided to explain. "Back in my world, I knew you of course. But we never really got a change to talk...due to reasons."

"Reasons?"

"Yes well…things concerning your brother...our team...we never got a chance to talk. Also the situation at that time. I will explain in full later." She offered him a bright smile, all the while feeling sorry for him. This time, she would try her hardest to let him live his life to the full. Though she was still unaware of what his future illness was, she made it a 'must-do' point in her mind to discover it and to treat him accordingly.

Sakura watched him as he looked at her questionably. It looked adorable if thought so to herself and she had to resist from reaching out to tug on his cheeks. She doubted that he would take that well.

"I'd rather if you tell me about yourself first, Haruno San." He said quietly after a few minutes, returning his gaze back to the road.

She pouted at the formal tone but decided to continue with her introduction. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I think I am nine or ten years old by how short I am right now." He raised an eyebrow at that.

"Before I came here, I was 21 years old. Back in my world we were five years apart." She coughed slightly. "I eat anything. But I usually prefer sweet things over spicy. Ramen is one of my favorite foods though because of a reason I'm not going to tell you about yet. Besides you hate ramen so I probably won't tell you that at all."

_Twitch_

"Anyhow, I like training, hanging out with my teammates and stuff. I dislike people who ...try to harm Konoha. I think hate an appropriate word. I also dislike the Konoha Council and Danzo Shimura."

She said it through all with a wide, charming smile. Something was off however and he could not put his finger on what exactly was wrong. He quickly dismissed it however, as she did a little hop, now slowly shaking her head from side to side as a young child would.

"My hobbies are," She continued, "Sleeping, playing shogei, spending time with my teammates..." She smiled wider. "I think that's about it. Your turn!"

His turn? What was he supposed to tell her about himself? She knew his name, his age, and Itachi felt that that was enough. And yet, she seemed to want to know more. What was there to know about?

Sakura sensed his hesitancy and sighed inwardly. He was more socially inept than she at first thought. Perhaps a little nudge would help him get started. For one thing, she knew that she was not going to let him have a peace of mind within his own –possibly boring- house.

"How about I just ask you and you answer? Would you like that?"

He merely inclined with his head and this time, she had to fight down the urge to slap him upside down the head. If this were how all Uchiha acted; she was going to become the worst role model alive in terms of discipline. She had learnt a few tricks to annoy people, courtesy of Naruto. Uchiha Itachi was not going to escape until he learned to act like his age; she was going to make sure of that.

"What do you do for fun Itachi San?"

"I rarely have time for entertainment. However, I do enjoy spending time with my friend and brother in order to slack off from work."

The fact that he was just like most of everyone else when it came to completing work made her relaxed and quite amused on the inside. Perhaps this wasn't so bad after all.

"What are your favorite foods?"

"Dango, Onigiri filled with seaweed and cabbage. I have an extremely high sweet tooth."

"What do you dislike?"

"...Big crowds of people..." She sensed more hesitancy building up from within him and he glanced around quickly before lowering his head. "…staying up late at for clan meetings and my clan elders." He added in a lower tone.

She nodded, understanding him completely. Since she had shared out most of her side of dislikes, it was only natural that he would. And she was glad that he did come out in open. "I see," she nodded, the smile still fixed in place. "So then…hobbies?"

"Well…I do like visiting traditional tea shops." He murmured, earning a roll of eyes from the pinkette. Honestly…this boy was something else. So, she shoved him to the side playfully, making him nearly fall over. The moment he regained balance, he turned around with a mild complaining look. "What was that for?"

"You behave like an old man and it's pissing me off." She stated shaking her head in disapproval. "I bet that's the only hobby you have from being forced to attend tea ceremonies from when you were young."

He did not deny it. It was part of the truth anyway. He did like visiting tea shops though it did get boring at times considering he did not meet anyone of his age yet with a hobby as that. So he shrugged, rubbing his side. Good lord, she was strong. To think she nearly made him topple that easily…

"I admit…I have a special love for teas as well. Not many know of it." He snapped his head up, surprised at that. She smiled at him, crossing her arms over her chest. "But I have other hobbies too. You should do something you enjoy once in a while. You don't get very long to be a kid; might as well enjoy it."

He cocked his head to the side slightly, lower lip jutting out in a pout as he thought hard about what she said. She was not wrong of course; you didn't get very long to be a child. Especially if you were a shinobi and even more so if you were born into an elite clan. "I…stopped being a child since long ago."

Sakura's eyebrows drew together slightly as he continued. "You might be aware of this, but ever since the last shinobi war, I don't really remember what it was like to have friends. Most of them died as soon as the war started and I…" he sighed before letting out a chuckle. "Well, it's not the most pleasant thing to talk about on the streets."

She stared at him with an unreadable expression before finally reaching a hand towards him. He initially thought that she was going to place it on his shoulder (most of his companions did that) but to his surprise, she reached up to his neatly combed hair and ruffled it up.

"You poor thing." She sighed. "I would give you a hug but then what would people say if an albino with green eyes embraced you? So I'm settling for this."

Then, she left the stunned Uchiha to walk on, her hands back in her pockets. Reaching a hand up to his head, he realized in dismay that she had ruined it completely. Out of pure habit, he stood and fixed it up before jogging a considerable distance to match up with her.

"Don't do that."

"Whatever." She shrugged. "I felt sorry for you. I just had to ruffle your hair or something to show that it is going to be okay. Don't mind me. I'm a bit socially awkward since several incidents too. Just not up to your level."

He frowned as he stared at her, now intrigued. "If you do not mind me asking..." He started, seemingly surprising Sakura that he started talking on his own will. "What really happened to your teammates? My brother...was your teammate as well as Naruto right?"

Her walking pace slowed down. Should she tell him? On the roads was definitely not a good place to discuss things as this, but then no one would really pay attention to two children mucking around the streets while engaging in an odd conversation, that was more one-sided. Even though that was the case, Sakura decided that telling him that his brother became a bloodthirsty killer all because he killed his clan tried to destroy Konoha and then finally died would have to wait until she explained her story properly.

For now she would give some oddball answer that need not be accepted by him. Whatever the case, the Uchiha would not handle it well if he was told his brother died right now. Poor child would probably faint. She vaguely began to realize that she was referring a boy who was older to her as a _child. _That would irritate him should he find out…

She turned to Itachi and smiled. "They..." She started.

Itachi waited for her to continue, slowing his pace down as well. Finally, she stopped, prompting him to halt as well. She turned to look at him, a grave look in her eyes. Itachi tensed for what news was coming.

"...They got kidnapped by a posse of gay men in flowing cloaks who wanted them to strip dance."

_...What?_

Sakura could barely contain herself as she watched a look of absolute horror crossed his face, a twitching breaking out on his left eye. It was absolutely hilarious. She was sure that if not for mentally scarring him, she could have very well switched on the paranoia switch within his brain.

For Itachi, her assumption was more than just right. He couldn't bring himself to comprehend the colorful images that flashed through his mind, thinking of all the possibilities that may have happened. It would forever scar him for life thanks to the pink haired girl standing in front of him

"..I was joking." She murmured after a while, unable to see the Uchiha going through mental torture. She was surprised that the Uchiha actually believed it. She thought he'd be a lot more practical than that, really. Then again she was from the future and…well…it made sense for him to believe it.

"Why do I have the feeling that this is only the beginning of a storm…?" He muttered, squeezing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger

"Trust your wild Uchiha instincts."

"..."

* * *

"THEY'RE HOME~!"

At Sasuke's unusually high pitched squeal, Fugaku let out an irritated sigh as his wife too, jogged along the halls to go out to go greet the newcomer. He was the last to stand up from where he was sitting, in the garden, and to drag his way towards the door.

He had thought up of many possible appearances of how the girl may have looked like; but it sure did not include a pale little girl with pink hair, green eyes who was dressed in an ordinary blue shirt and white pants. Also…where was the luggage?

"Welcome to our family!" Mikoto chirped as she tried to stop Sasuke from running up to the new guest before the introduction was over, a warm smile gracing her face. "My name is Mikoto, Itachi-Chan's mother. This is my husband, Fugaku-Kun. This is little Sasuke, who I presume you have already met?"

Sakura bowed formally in return, fixing her own polite smile in place. "My name is Sakura. I apologize for intruding upon your home. Thank you for bearing with me."

Mikoto could only marvel at the adorable child standing in front of her. She was exactly what the Uchiha Matriarch wanted in a daughter. Mission or not, she was going to keep this girl as hers, until the time came that she had to leave. Bending down in front of her, receiving a startled response from the well-mannered pink haired girl, she rubbed a dirty patch under her left eye, prompting the girl to close it, and frowned when she saw that it was dried blood.

"Dear...you look like you have been through a lot." She said gently. "Where are your bags?"

"I...don't have any." She sounded sheepish, grinning as she rubbed the back of her head. "I just arrived here so..."

"You were traveling without any luggage? Were you on your way to Konoha?"

Sakura nodded. "I was born here but, circumstances forced my parents to move me out of here...and now I am back here."

Before Mikoto could ask another question, Sasuke finally moved forward, being unable to contain himself and took hold of her hands, grinning from ear to ear excitedly. "Come on! I'll show you to my room! Let's play!" Before anyone could react, he had already dragged the pink haired girl away. It seemed that the boy was very fond of her.

Itachi himself was aware of it, having experienced his brother's scolding for leaving the 'pretty lady' in the woods. He earnestly hoped that Sasuke had not told his parents of what Sakura told him about his 'friendship' with her. It wasn't that he didn't want to make friends with her; his father would strongly disapprove of any relation with a girl, especially one from outside his clan.

"Itachi dear could you help me with the laundry? I have to finish the cooking so…" At his mother's request, he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked outside. It would be best to keep his distance from the girl from where his father could see them or until he got used to her presence. His left eye twitched as a sharp pain went through his left side of the chest.

He would have to go to the hospital tomorrow for a checkup.

* * *

Sasuke spent the whole day showing Sakura his 'shinobi moves', his toys and telling her stories of how awesome his big brother was. She never got tired of listening to his childish awe filled stories, mostly consisting of his amazing nii-san.

Right now she was flipping through one of their family albums. She wondered why they were always so stiff. 'Must be the strict and traditional way of living as a high status clan...' She mused in her head as she observed the pictures. In whatever picture Sasuke was however, the family seemed less stiff. Even Fugaku seemed to sport a small smile on his face. It was barely noticeable and yet, still there.

She came to a quick realization, by merely observing the pictures that Sasuke was indeed the apple of their eye. He was the one they all loved the most as opposed to what they believed.

"-Itachi niisan is so smart..." Sasuke was continuing his story, a pout on his baby soft lips as his gaze cast downwards, playing with a green dinosaur and a soft toy shurikan on the low level coffee table. "I want to be just like him when I grow up…to handle real shurikan and all."

"Why?"

The simple question made the boy pause his activity and look up to meet emerald green eyes filled with curiosity. "It's because Nii-san is awesome!" he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Tou-san always talks about how proud he is of Itachi nii-san..." He looked at the dinosaur again. "Sometimes I think he doesn't pay attention to me. He will once I become a shinobi."

It probably was just a childish, innocent remark showing minor displeasure. And yet, Sakura was highly perspective and had grown to at least foresee a bit of the future with the present happenings with years of hard training. That innocent remark was not to be toyed with, she knew it well. Even now, the child was aware of how his father seemed to pay more attention to his older, more perfect brother.

Even though right now, all Sasuke had was childish awe and admiration for his seemingly perfect, over-achieving, genius older brother who would rush to his every aid, he would grow to resent the older Uchiha as he grew and began to understand what was going on. Initially, he had hated his brother because he had massacred his clan. Even if his clan were to prosper and live on now, (hopefully she was going to make that reality in due time) Sasuke would begin to foster hate towards his more accomplished brother.

He was going to see how Itachi made it into the Jounin, ANBU's before he could. He was going to see properly how the Uchiha Clan Elders praised him, all the while failing to recognize the abilities of _Uchiha Sasuke. _All of this would start to slowly drill into his mind, changing his views towards his brother who loved him dearly. Would consider everything he did to be a hindrance to his own achievements. Eventually it would reach to a point where Sasuke would actually loath his older sibling's existence.

She did not want that to happen at any cost. And yet, she could not focus on their brotherly relationship at the moment. For now, she needed to asses the situation was between the Konoha Council and the Uchiha Clan in order to form a plan on how to act. In order to succeed properly, she needed to get Danzo Shimura away from the picture.

The old man had supposedly wanted what was best for Konoha. And yet his motives were entirely selfish, as in the end it was clear that all he wanted was the post of Hokage. In order to do so, he needed powerful Shinobi for his root. She knew that the all the man wanted to do was to eliminate the Uchiha, seeing it as a threat to Konoha, all because of the powerful Dojutsu it possessed.

She needed to find some way to eliminate the root, and keep Danzo away from Itachi and Sasuke at any cost. If Danzo were to intervene in her plans, he would probably create a hassle of trouble, one of them would be talking to Sasuke to join the root to beat his brother, if Itachi wouldn't. She was aware that Itachi may have been part of the root in the past. Otherwise Danzo's words could not have had such an impact on his actions.

Orochimaru...there was the snake as well. Good lord, so many things to do and plan out! A throbbing headache stopped her silent thoughts, making her wince. She really needed to get some rest soon and she doubted that she would be able to…knowing that this would make her an insomniac for a few days straight.

"So what do you think Sakura Onee-chan?" She blinked at the nickname and turned to Sasuke, confused. "Do you think I can be a greater shinobi than nii-san?"

She smiled. "Ah that will happen...only if you trust in yourself, work hard, and believe in the will of fire."

"Will of fire?"

Before she could answer however, a knock sounded on the open door, and Sakura turned to see Itachi, leaning against it, a lazy expression on his face. "Dinner." He stated simply.

"ALRIGHT!" Sasuke jumped up, and dragged Sakura up. "Come on! Dinner! "Kaa-Chan makes really awesome food you know! Come on!"

"Coming..." She smiled wearily, standing up slowly. "I'm a bit sleepy though."

"Well you can't sleep till you eat!" He said snobbishly, a sentence which she presumed was taken straight off from his mother. She smiled wider and allowed herself to be dragged away by the little boy. "Itachi San, let's go." She said as they went past him.

"Yeah! Let's!" Sasuke let go of Sakura's hand and jumped onto his unsuspecting brother. Sakura saw a wave of pain cross over his face as he clutched at his left side. She vaguely remembered that he was doing the same after she delivered a blow to his back on the streets. Had she fractured a rib of his by accident?

"What happened to your side Itachi San?" She questioned, worriedly, in a tone that made Sasuke slightly step back from his beloved brother in fear of damaging him further. He just shook his head, making her scowl and cross her hands over her chest. If there was one thing that annoyed her, it would be shinobi hiding obvious injuries and lying about it.

"You could tell me you know. I am a medic. I can do something about it. Where does it hurt? And how?"

"Anou..." Sasuke tugged on her shirt, making her look down. "He did the Chuunin exams today. There was this shinobi from the village of mist he was fighting with...I think 'Tousan was talking about how he was proud of him for surviving a kick to his side. I didn't see much. All I saw were fast flashes but I bet it was awesome!"

"A kick to the side..?" She looked back at Itachi. "We need to get that tended to! There might be a broken rib."

"I suspect there is one." He said quietly, rubbing it. "However, if we delay, father will be most discontented. I suggest we finish up dinner first."

"Alright but then, you will allow me to tend to your injury right after." She told him in a no-nonsense way, placing a hand over her hip. If she were older, she would've looked stern and somewhat scary. But right now she was just a nine to ten year old child. And that expression was hardly intimidating. However, Itachi was not one to voice his thoughts out and nodding in agreement, walked out of the room.

Sakura followed close behind, Sasuke once again holding onto her shirt while filling her head with a story of how he nearly fell into a pond and swallowed a fish. By the time they reached the dinner table, they saw that Mikoto and Fugaku were already seated, side by side, looking expectant.  
Seeing the amount of food Mikoto had gone out of her way to make just for the occasion of her arriving to this house, she bowed and earnestly thanked the woman, as well as apologizing for making trouble.

Mikoto just brushed it off and urged her to sit and start her meal. Glancing around the fancy arrangement of food, Sakura wondered whether the Uchiha always ate this extravagant. After all, they were the most powerful clan in whole of Konoha. She decided to start with a shrimp. Beginning with a soft 'Itadakimasu', she bit down on the piece of seafood. At the burst of delicious flavor filling her senses, she froze.

"How is it?" The woman pressed, the never vanishing smile on her face, as she looked eagerly at Sakura.

"It's delicious." She swallowed. "It's...really delicious. Thank you."

Mikoto smiled and blushed slightly at the compliment. "Ah, it could be that you were really hungry. I'm glad you like my cooking." She bit down on some rice, chewed and swallowed before turning back to her. "Tell us about yourself dear."

What _should _she say? Make up a fake story to leave them off track? She had to make her story as convincing as possible, and it wouldn't hurt to add in a few truths about herself as well.

"I...really don't know how to explain."

"Well then, you said that you were from Konoha right? What made you come back? And where are your parents?"

She paused briefly, looking down at her own bowl of white rice. "My parents moved me away from Konoha because of some clan conflicts apparently. That's what they told me at least. They never told me anything else, or what my clan was. They were Shinobi though. Both were Jounin level Shinobi. They often left home, saying they'd come back. And at that time I would be with a woman called Tsunade. She became my sensei later on."

"Tsunade Senju?" Fugaku interrupted, disbelief in his eyes. Sakura nodded, secretly pleased that she finally managed to get some response out of the otherwise, hard-to-please Uchiha head. At least she would be sure that he would not look down on her as much.

"What happened later on?" Mikoto pressed.

"One day, they left as usual. But even after a long time, they didn't come back. Then Tsunade Shisou told me that they weren't ever coming back, was really tearful." She cocked her head to one side, pretending not to see Mikoto's horrified expression, and playing along the innocent, know-nothing nine year old. "I don't know why she cried...but then I cried too...because I don't know why my parents left me. She said I would understand later on."

"...I see." The woman sounded sad now, and Sakura felt twinges of guilt. However, she had to weave a story as this to make sure they wouldn't pry into her personal life too much. The story was true though, with the exemption of the part that it happened outside Konoha.

"So then I began living with Tsunade Shisou Sama, learning medic techniques and different ninjutsu and taijutsu. She couldn't teach me any genjutsu, so I taught myself."

"You taught yourself?" Fugaku interrupted her once more. "How?"

"I went around reading and searching for scrolls. I learned several genjutsu techniques. Anyhow, when we were moving to another country, we got attacked by shinobi on the way, and I got separated from Shisou." Once again, Sakura pretended not to notice Mikoto's horror. it was to be expected. She was just a nine year old. "I escaped and moved on quickly for days, stopping just now and then to rest and then collapsed in a forest. I guess that's how Itachi San found me."

"Escaping from Shinobi..." Fugaku sounded mildly impressed. "How would you say your rank is right now?"

Sakura bit down a smirk. If they were to know that she was a potential Hokage candidate, surely they would be taken aback. She was in just a nine year olds body of course and that would just frighten them. She had no intention of revealing where she came from to the two; not yet anyway. "Tsunade Sama did tell me I could very well be Chuunin level."

"Then I suppose you would not mind a match between my son and yourself." He stated. Mikoto protested quickly, only to have Sakura accept the challenge, much to her dismay. She did not know what he son was capable of…of course Itachi-Chan would try not to hurt her so much but it was inevitable in sparring…

"I love a good challenge. It would be pleasing if he would match up to me; I always win so it's always a bore…" she bit down on her lip in order to keep them from twitching up the moment a wave of annoyance washed over Fugaku's face. She was thoroughly enjoying this and she was sure that Itachi was aware of what she was doing by how he shot her warning stares.

"The match shall be held tomorrow, in the morning." Fugaku spoke as if he knew that she was going to lose easily. And that made Sakura even more eager to try crush the man's pride, even if by a little bit. A draw surely wouldn't hurt now would it?

"Sakura Chan, are you sure?" Mikoto turned to her worriedly.

"But of course!" She turned to face Itachi. "Don't hold back Itachi San!"

"...As you wish."

Sasuke could only sit there grinning. Even though he knew nothing of what they were really talking about right now, the boy was overjoyed that dinner wasn't quiet as it usually was. If Sakura Onee-chan would stay here, that meant that dinner time wouldn't be boring anymore. And the thought made him giddy with happiness.

* * *

**Q&A section/authors notes**

**~Hello dear readers and thank you very much for making it through his horrendously long chapter of mine! I just couldn't help it. This probably would be the longest chapter I would have ever written for any of my stories. I apologize to you all for having had to go through all that. ^^/ (This chapter has been slightly edited)**

**Now for some answers for questions that you might have about this fic:**

**- About those who are surprised that Itachi broke his ribs do remember that he is just 10 years old at the moment and not exactly what you call invincible. (He never was in the first place, though his abilities surpassed most in his generation) Also, he is definitely not an emotionless robot as most of you perceive him to be.  
Itachi was noted to be an extremely kind and gentle shinobi, not just to Sasuke, to all around him. It was even said that he was considered too kind to be an actual Shinobi. But of course he had to be pushed to be one by the old geezers of his clan. If he seemed a bit OOC in this fiction, please once again remember that he is just _10 years old. _Though the kid has a good poker face for his age, his acting abilities and all haven't really developed to such an extent that he would just blatantly ignore everyone for the sake of improving his status. Remember, Itachi does not enjoy fighting. He is a pacifist who would rather solve conflicts peacefully.**

**- Fugaku Uchiha, as much as he may seem to be an uncaring father, he does love his children immensely. He acts strict on purpose, just to push them forward to be great people who would regain the honor of his clan. He was well aware of the Konoha council's silent boycott of the clan. When Itachi became the youngest Shinobi to graduate from the academy and to become a Chuunin, he indeed would be proud. Of course, he is not really aware that by focusing too much on Itachi,  
Sasuke would eventually begin to foster a hate for his brother and his family.  
Sasuke by nature, though pleasant, has an inferiority as well as a superiority complex as stated by Kakashi. He is just a baby right now, who cannot understand what is going on, but as he grows older, he definitely will, and once he does, it is unavoidable that he would start hatin gon his brother.**

**- Sakura by nature is a joyful person, though her own actions (and incidents around her) led to some of her own emotional blockage, that does not stop her from smiling and trying to seem happy.**

**- For all those who are wondering why Sai isn't mentioned, a flashback in the future will show what happened during the way and his duties right now. That reference Sakura used to Sai was because she learned from him to smile even though she wasn't happy. Sai can be a bastard sometimes but he is, still a kind and understanding person. Fear not, he will be rescued from the Root one way or another.**

**-Sakura, as she was 21 before she came back in time, possesses a bit of an adult mind and would say awkward things like that in future, though it will decrease. What she said about 'a posse of gay men kidnapping Sasuke and Naruto to make them strip dance' was just an attempt at humor, forgetting that Itachi was but, a ten year old. I don't really think he will be able to block that out of his mind too soon...**

**- Also, about the fight, Sakura is more than capable to take down Itachi right now, seeing that she had more training than the current him. As much as a genius the boy is, he was just promoted to Chuunin, whereas Sakura completed years as Chuunin, Jounin, ANBU and was nearly forced to become Hokage. Considering the circumstances, I really don't think it is OOC. Many did say that Sakura did have the potential to surpass Tsunade, and for Hourglass, I decided to just make that happen. So I don't really see why those crazy elders (Konoha elders) would force her to become one.**

**-Sasuke, as much of as a pleasant and cute kid he is right now, I'm going to give him a bit of a 'spoiled brat' personality since he comes from a wealthy family and his family is almost entirely Shinobi. He is, attracted to Sakura as much as he is to Itachi, seeing her as a pretty lady. After the match, I bet he'd be awed too. We'll just see.**

**-About Itachi's injury, the news of the match probably made both Sakura and him forget it existed in the first place. But she would heal it sooner or later. Do remember that since Sakura suddenly became a child, her kunai throw and some moves will be offhanded. So that puts her at a disadvantage with Itachi who's shurikanjutsu are near perfect. Also, her chakra type isn't really mentioned, though she will have some fire jutsu in practice. Since about what Kakashi said about Jounin having at least 3 chakra types or something…**  
**Still, a kid Itachi is pretty deadly, and Sakura knows that pretty well, having nearly fought him once. **

**-About Kakshi, _don't worry. _He will be making an appearance fairly soon enough! ^.^**

**-Ramen is not Sakura's most preferred food, though she has grown a liking to it. She does prefer sweets and healthy eating over it, but the ramen stall was a particular favorite of Naruto's so she takes regular trips to it. Stupid as it sounds, it is a way for her to constantly remember good times of when they were alive and well, as a team.**

**Thank you all for getting through this long authors note section. I'm sure you all must be fed up by now. Really. =_= **

**Anyway, if you like this fiction, please leave a review, as reviews tell me what I have to improve next in the fiction, as well as what you readers want from it. I really do not want to disappoint you all. So if you like it, please leave a review~**

**Owari~ ^.^/**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello dear readers and I have to say, I was pretty overwhelmed by the number of reviews I got. Thank you all SO much, for spending time to read my work, I very much appreciate it. It's not an empty saying, I truly mean it! ^^**

* * *

Morning came early, the sun radiating everything in sight as it silently rose from the dark horizon. As tiny rays of the light peeked through the curtains of a certain room, illuminating the pillow, it came to a notice that there was no one present on the said, well-made bed. However, it did find the person it was seeking to wake, and did it as so as to annoy her.

Haruno Sakura was dozing peacefully under a tree, after a hard training session, only to have bright light shining in her eyes a few minutes after she lay down. Scowling, she opened them, letting the rays shine into her eyes and making the emerald eyes sparkle before she closed them again with a groan. Seemingly annoyed, the pinkette uttered an array of colorful words before finally standing up, dusting herself as she did so.

"I hate mornings..." She mumbled as she stretched as far as she could, in the process, letting a warm feeling rise up in the body as some sore joints popped audibly, showing the extent of her training. Sighing in pleasure she let herself relax. Well, perhaps mornings weren't _that _bad. But now that she was yet a child, she could not have access to her otherwise, lovely daily morning tea or coffee, depending on her choice.

Right now the rosette wanted a deep drink of pure, hot steaming coffee while reading a scroll in her kitchen table. Quietly, she made her way back to the Uchiha mansion, as slow as her legs could take her, screaming out pure laziness. It surely wasn't her fault that she wasn't a morning person now was it?

Sakura had been unable to sleep throughout the night, even though she was thoroughly exhausted after the time traveling. Though she was used to sleeping in odd places with each mission that required leaving Konoha, she found herself to be extremely uncomfortable in the Uchiha mansion, as the fact that she was now living in a once dead corner of Konoha continued to haunt her. Having had enough with the constant tossing and turning after a long time, she had silently made her escape through her window around three in the morning, and found herself in the training ground where she first landed in. And so, she trained and meditated, all the while thinking of her situation.

A quiet nagging in the back of her head informed that she was forgetting something important, but she soon dismissed it. She could recall it later. Maybe after she relaxed a bit with some green tea and dango. Part of her wanted to turn around and skip into the Dango Shop and help herself to several delicious sweet delights. But knowing that her disappearance would alert the members of the household, she held back against it. It wasn't like she had any money to spare anyway.

As she approached her current residence, she caught sight of Itachi moving out, looking around as if he were searching for someone. She greeted him, keeping sure to keep her voice low in fear of waking up the neighbors. It _was _early in the morning after all and she did not find it right to talk in her normal voice that would otherwise, disrupt the serenity and tranquility.

Itachi, upon spotting her, let out a heavy sigh and relief flooded over his face, making her raise an eyebrow in question. Had she done something wrong now? "Where were you? I have been looking for you for a long time now. You had me thinking that you ran away." She blinked as he hissed, now looking extremely annoyed.

…Ah...she had forgotten that she was kept under the Uchiha as a sign of trust for now. If she were to disappear or get killed, the blame would be hung on their heads.

"Sorry." She apologized, holding her hands up in front of her as she smiled meekly. "I couldn't sleep so I sneaked out to go training."

"I can see that." He said quietly as he eyed her up and down. "You look like a mess."

Sakura noted that he looked extremely pale as well as exhausted. His tear troughs seemed more pronounced than yesterday and he seemed strained. Cautiously approaching him, she asked him the cause of his distress. Had her sudden disappearance frighted him that much or something? Surely he did not think that she would run away after being sent back in time to complete a tremendous task? Of course, she had contemplated escaping but she would not really do it now...

"My chest..."

She flinched and mentally berated herself for letting something like that slip off her mind. Honestly, what kind of a medical shinobi was she now, forgetting about injured people?

'It can't be helped I guess,' she thought to herself as she motioned him to get back inside. 'I have a lot to think about the current situation. Stupid Tsunade Shisou making me do this...'

"Your powers remained with you even after you came here?" He questioned in a voice bordering around a whisper as they entered the house, making it clear that the two senior members of the household, as well as the obsessive little brother of his. She was glad; Sasuke was adorable but he was just as loud as Naruto from back in her time at this age and she would like some silence for a while.

"It seems like it did. I'm glad. I won't have to practice my hard earned work of years over again." She answered, sticking her hands inside her pockets as she followed him upstairs. "Though I have to practice my shurikan-jutsu again...I have to spend a lot of time making calcuations again...what a drag..."

"Well...then it seems like you have an advantage over me in the little match we have today." Itachi commented, "I doubt that you are really Chuunin though...they would not send shinobi of..." He watched a confused expression pass over her face and quickly came to a realization that she had completely forgotten that she had accepted the challenge his father threw at her the night before. He wasn't surprised though; she had a lot to think about and it probably slipped her mind.

And so, he began recounting last nights events, until she finally remembered. With a sheepish smile, she scratched the back of her head, nodding slowly. "I...completely forgot. When is it again...?"_  
_

"After breakfast." He responded and then halted at a door before opening it. She peered inside with mild curiosity, growing disappointed as she realized that the room was only furnished with the most basics needed. There was a medium sized bed pushed up against one wall where the window was, neatly made. A full sized mirror was attached to the wall beside it and a working table scattered with different documents and scrolls at the opposite wall. Two large shelves with numerous books and scrolls were at it's sides.

She made her mind to ask him for a few later. Stepping inside, she noted that the walls were painted a very dark blue instead of black; the sunlight streaming through the window gave it away. It all seemed a bit too...grown-up for a kid. Then again he was Uchiha Itachi.

"Remove your shirt and sit on the bed." She instructed, "I need to see how much damage had been done."

He seemed to hesitate a bit before doing as said and sitting on the edge of his bed. She noted how lean and trimmed he was, despite his age. He was probably much slimmer than most kids his age, but obviously more well built. Moving forward, she winced inwardly at the large purple bruise that was spreading over his side and more so as she noticed a few outlines of healed scars near his abdomen. This boy was really...

"When did this happen again?" She inquired as she inspected it, using her thumb to slightly press down on it, watching him wince.

"Chuunin exams."

"Ah I see..." She let green chakra encircle her hands as she placed it on his chest. "Bear with me. This may hurt." He flinched again but otherwise, did not utter a word as she inspected the level of damage done to his side. "Two fractured ribs and one broken one. As well as some muscle tears..." She muttered, shooting a glare up at him for being careless.

"Honestly you are so irresponsible Itachi-San! I am sure this would have caused you immense pain up to until now. Why didn't you go to the hospital immediately? Did you at least apply first-aid?"

He nodded slowly, growing slightly amused at her face, deciding against telling her that no matter how hard she tried to look furious, she ended up looking no less threatening than Sasuke. "I have also taken some pain medication."

"Pain medication aren't supposed to be off the counter you know. They are dangerous if taken in wrong doses. But putting that behind, I'm going to heal now so be still okay?"

At the inclination of his head, she pushed her chakra in, spreading her warm chakra through the wounded area. Itachi relaxed visibly as she did so, some signs of strain draining away from hi_s _face_. _He was surprised with her amazing skill, feeling the bones push back into place almost immediately. She must be extremely gifted or have mastered it very well to reach this level of healing. Even the old medic's with years of experience could not do this in under a few minutes.

The pain soon faded away and all he could feel was the gentle, warm chakra that slowly moved around within his chest, searching for more possible injuries. Finding everything to be normal, she withdrew it and removed her hands, grinning at him. "I'm done!" she announced, "Stand up and move around a bit to see if you still feel any pain."

He did so, moving his shoulder blades and breathing in deeply as he threw around a few punches in mid air.

"There wasn't too much damage done so I healed it up completely." She murmured, watching him move towards the mirror to inspect his side searching for any signs of the nasty bruise, eyes widening slightly as he realized that there was none.

"If this is the level of your skill I dare not imagine how powerful your teacher must be," he said, sounding impressed as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Thank you for healing me."

He noted then, that he chakra was significantly lower than what was from last night. She must have used nearly half her reserve for training and another bit for healing him. Wouldn't that place her in a disadvantage for today? Before he could ask her however, she stood up and took a few steps around the room before offhandedly picking up a scroll and scanning it.

"Reading about complicated things like nature release...hey, are you an old man or what?"

* * *

"GO ITACHI NII-SAN~!"

Sakura was sure that almost all their neighbors would have woken up now, if they hadn't already. Sasuke was eagerly cheering for his big brother to win the match, which they were about to start right now. She smirked at Itachi who stared back expressionlessly. Fugaku was watching, an expectant look on his face as he watched on, his wife on the other hand looking a bit worried.

"Don't hold back." She smiled as she faced her opponent. An amused look flickered across his face as a slight smirk settled on his own lips. The two observed each other quietly, eyes running over any expectant movement. The match seemingly had already begun, and yet the two made no move to land an attack. Both shinobi stood still, not moving an inch. An onlooker might have wondered whether they were breathing or not

Confused, Sasuke tugged on the hem of his mother's dress. "Why are they just staring at each other?"

"It seems they are waiting for each other to attack." Mikoto said quietly, already getting the feeling that the match was not going to end soon. She knew Fugaku shared the same thought and they watched in silence, ignoring their younger son's remarks on how boring this was. If Sakura was expecting Itachi to make the first move, this would take an impossibly long time. As far as Fugaku knew, his son never made the first move; he always acted in defense.

After three long minutes, Sakura decided to make the first move...by making her fingers twitch. His pupils constricted and she deflected the first kunai thrown at her, throwing an extra one which he blocked. And so, they were engaged in a fierce battle of shurikan-jutsu. No one could tell who had the upper-hand because, all they saw where messy blurs and sparks in between the space where they stood, emitted from the many kunai that clashed against each other.

As abruptly as it started then, the two shinobi disappeared only to reappear in the middle of the ground, each holding a kunai that was attempted to stab the other with, and each blocking the weapon that were going to pierce them. With a kick Sakura swung at his torso in defense, they both jumped back, eying each other intently.

"So...fast...when did that happen?" Mikoto wondered out loud, obviously fascinated and taken aback by the display she just witnessed. Fugaku was impressed by just one thing; she had managed to keep up with him easily with his sharingan on. Itachi never usually activated his dojutsu unless he was up against an extremely difficult opponent; he was often on par with most Konoha Jounin without the use of his sharingan. Which meant that this girl was no mere Chuunin as she claimed. To think a prodigy who leveled up to his son lived...

"Take this!" Itachi dodged a punch that was thrown at him and blocked another kick that she aimed for his head, mentally reminding himself to never do that again with his bare hand; it hurt to block her attacks. And so, with the next one aimed to throw him off balance, he jumped high up into the air. It proved to be a bad move.

She threw at least a dozen kunai with explosive tags attached to it the moment he was airborne and by the look on her face, he realized that she had planned this from the very beginning. Taking her lightly would prove to be fatal he knew, now that he was suspended in mid-air and virtually helpless against the bombs that were flung at him.

Weaving his hands together quickly, he made a shadow clone that pulled him out of the way just as the kunai reached him and exploded. They landed in front of her, mirroring triumphant smirks. Twiddling another kunai with a finger as she regarded him lazily, a slow smile spreading across her lips. "Not bad...you managed to escape that. Then again I expected it so I am not surprised at all." he ran a tongue across the metal and grinned, humor making her eyes twinkle. The crimson splattered over the weapon made him stop in place.

A stinging on his shoulder made him place a hand over it, drawing it back to reveal his palm wet with blood.

First move.

* * *

Impressed eyes scrutinized the battle that was being displayed in the glass ball. Blowing out a puff of smoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi gave a low chuckle tinged with amusement. "Impressive. Very impressive." He mused. "No one has ever managed to make a scratch on that boy in the starting of a match."

He knew that, if this girl was an apprentice of Tsunade, she would probably have medical ninjutsu as well as inhuman strength to her advantage. Considering her speed and the time she was from, she might have been acquainted with Might Gai, if Kakashi were her teacher. Itachi Uchiha was at a great advantage right now, even if he had his specialty to aid him.

Right now the old man was trying to think of whether he would let the pinkette be in a team with other shinobi or not. She probably would get bored from being indoors all day, without going on any mission. Also, assigning her to duty would give him a chance to see her abilities in full potential. He was not sure of which rank she would be, but he was sure that it was surely above Chuunin rank.

"You called for me, Hokage Sama?"

Sarutobi nodded and motioned for the ANBU to come closer. "You can take off your mask. It's just both of us."

The 19 year old paused before taking off the dog mask, revealing yet another mask beneath, a single onyx eye regarding the Sandime curiously. What could be so important as to have to call off all his meetings for today and to postpone his mission? He wondered what exactly had happened. Perhaps it was regarding Naruto again.

"A match against the Uchiha genius?" he asked quietly as he saw what the Hokage was observing. "Who is it this time Hokage Sama?"

"Yes. It is a girl who I placed within the Uchiha as trust," he chuckled at the look of disbelief over the boy's face. "She is on par with the boy. Actually I reckon she has the upper-hand in this match."

"Who is she?"

The copy nin watched the humor disappear from the Hokage's face and blinked as he cast a jutsu to sound-proof the room. What was going on?

"Her name is Sakura and I bought you here to discuss about her." The old man began, puffing on his pipe once more, not taking eyes off the glass ball. "She is a time traveler who arrived just yesterday."

"..What?" Kakashi's visible eye widened imperceptibly as he took in the information. A time traveler who arrived in Konoha?

"She is a 21 year old woman from the future who also happens to be your student."

His student? This was big news! "Hokage Sama!" he finally spoke, feeling his heart start pounding deep within his chest. "She can't stay here for long! If she were to, it would greatly disrupt the time! Do you know where she belongs to-"

"Calm down," Sarutobi interrupted the copy nin as he leaned back into his chair. "She is staying in Konoha. Initially we had deciding to send her back; however we had found out that the future is not so pleasant as most of us would have thought. She has decided to try change it."

"To change the future? Wh-"

"Bad things happened in the future Kakashi. Very bad things. She came to fix those things from happening. As her future mentor, I decided to tell you all this as we will need your help. Sakura told us that you played a great part in your past that lead some things to happen in the future." Hiruzen looked up from the glass ball then, to see an alarmed look on the ANBU's face.

"Hokage Sama...what sort of trouble happened then?"

_"...I came to stop a war from happening..."_

Sighing, he looked back at the glass ball. It seemed that Sakura had disappeared and Itachi was trying to find her. He looked pretty beaten up and bruised; something he hadn't seen in a long time.

"Kakashi." He stood up with a smile, ignoring the now near hyperventilating shinobi. "Let's go observe the match shall we?"

* * *

Fugaku was wary. It was nearing mid-day now and the battle didn't even seem to have reached to it's climax. If anything, the two were playing a game of cat and mouse, occasionally switching between each.

Right in between the fireball jutsu, the girl had released a smoke screen and disappeared, nearly tricking Itachi more than once. First was when she threw clones disguised as windmill shurikan at him. The moment the boy had jumped between them to avoid being injured, the clone below transformed back and sent him flying upwards. Itachi had acted quickly and instead of letting himself being pummeled to the ground, he grabbed hold of the clone and kicked her back down instead.

As he landed however, another clone embedded deep within the ground and nearly punched him unconscious, once again owing to his Sharingan. She was amazingly nimble on her feet as well as had skill at masking her chakra to the extent that the eyes itself could only detect finger-tip worth of chakra that escaped into the air.

Truly she was a remarkable shinobi who would become a perfect assassin later on, if she wasn't already one. The way she licked up Itachi's blood sent goosebumps down his arm; the last time he witnessed something like that was when he was up against an extremely terrifying woman around a few years back, in his chuunin days...

It was clear that the rosette was the taijutsu expert among the two. While she possessed strength and speed, he possessed speed and quick reaction time, making it hard for the girl to land a blow on the Uchiha. And yet she managed to every now and then, and every time she did, he would either be sprawling away, flying in the air or embedded deep in the ground.

It seemed to be somewhat comical for little Sasuke who laughed every time he saw his brother 'flying like a bird' as he called it while Fugaku was relatively unamused. If anything, her temper reminded him of a certain, now deceased red-headed best friend of his wife, who was also the wife of Minato, a close friend of his own. She had pink hair; could it be that she might be a distant relative of the Uzumaki clan?

"STAY STILL! GODDAMN YOU SON OF A..." She started yelling, pausing as she realized that a very bright eyed boy was watching them expectantly as well the parents of the boy she was trying to assault. "...BEAUTIFUL WOMAN YOU ARE A BIG BASTARD!"

"Oh my," He saw his wife blush at the compliment, bringing up a hand to touch her warm cheek while smiling sheepishly. "She is so sweet."

Her being beautiful was of course, true. However, for a little girl to use such crude language was unheard of. But if she truly were Tsunade's apprentice, it was no surprise. The compulsive gambler had a habit of cussing, especially when drunk. In which case he had to be careful about keeping Sasuke away from her.

"Tousan, what's a bastard?" Sasuke began tugging on his hand, a confused look on his face innocent face. The Jounin paled, wondering on how to explain it when his wife jumped in to save him, dragging his son away.

"It's something girls call to boys to annoy them. If you use it people will call you a girl. So don't use it."

Blinking he nodded slowly before turned back to the battle. It changed back to ninjutsu, where the rosette seemed to be at a disadvantage with the Uchiha with his perfectly mastered fire ninjutsu. It was to be expected of course; Uchiha were masters at the fire jutsu (hence their clan name), and it would be foolish to think that a person from another clan could be as well mastered.

But just as Itachi released a fireball, the kunoichi, released a water type ninjutsu. With a hiss, a thick mist formed, concealing them and the whole grounds. It amazed Sasuke and he stared on, his lips formed into a perfect 'o' shape and his eyes wide. Heavy movement was heard from within dense clouds and within a minute, everything fell silent. As the grounds cleared, Sasuke burst out laughing while Fugaku tried to refrain a scowl from rising up to his face.

Sakura was straddling Itachi, holding a kunai to his throat, her face placid and her posture completely relaxed, uncaring whether there was his clone behind her with a kunai pointed at her back. The match was clearly over and it was evident that who had won. Even if his clone would deliver a bit of damage, she would have killed him and be done with it should this were a real battle. And the head of the Uchiha clan was not pleased that his son was taken down by a strange girl.

"Jeez Uchiha do you always have to plan steps ahead for everything?" She muttered as she removed the knife and standing up, prompting the sharingan master to make his shadow clone disappear.

"It's primary steps of a shinobi." He answered, following her and dusting some dust off his shirt before raising an eyebrow at her. "You caught me off guard with the man-like punch."

No sooner after the last sentence left his mouth, he was bought up near her furious face, hands tightened around his collar. So she had her own weak points did she now? He made a mental note to preserve that in order to annoy her later on..

"I AM NOT A MAN! TAKE THAT BACK!"

"No." His simple statement served to agitate her further, and she began shaking him back and forth, to the point he felt something _shake _inside his skull.

"TAKE THAT BACK BEFORE I SHOVE A TREE UP YOUR NOSTRIL UCHIHA AND I PROMISE YOU IT WON'T BE PRETTY!"

Itachi somehow managed to free himself of her hold and staggered back, only to have to face her chakra infused fists and she charged at him again with a war cry. It was certainly an amusing situation and he tried his best to avoid her blows with a wide smile on his face. Now that she was riled up, dodging them would be slightly easier considering she was blinded by anger.

Mikoto bit down a laugh as she saw Fugaku's nonplussed expression. He had not witnessed this side of his son, having spent time with him only during training and when on duty. She asked her husband whether it shocked him to see that his own son could have a playful attitude that normal children had. The head of the Uchiha clan could only watch as a laugh escaped from his son as he jumped to prevent himself from being kicked.

"Itachi laughs a lot; not just with Sasuke" She stated quietly, looking at the small scene unfolding in front of them. "He is a ten year old child who is just as normal as other children...you just won't let him be."

"Well, well!" At the hearty laugh, the two turned around to see their Hokage walking up to them, a broad smile on his face. His appearance was noted by both Sakura and Itachi and she stopped her acts of trying to crush him. "I see you both are getting along?"

"We are." Itachi nodded with fake seriousness, making Sakura growl and deliver a punch to his shoulder.

"I can see that." He felt a bead of sweat running down his temple. "Is it over?"

"Not until he apologizes." The rosette huffed, crossing her hands over her chest.

"I hope you enjoy the disappointment."

Leaving the two to continue their bickering, Sarutobi turned to regard Fugaku and Mikoto who bowed in respect. "Hokage Sama." The Uchiha Matriarch greeted quietly, letting a large smile grace her face. "What may we do for you?"

"I came to inquire whether things are going alright for you. Are you doing well...Fugaku?" He asked gently, looking straight into the eyes of the Captain of Konoha Military. Understanding what he meant, Fugaku gave a dry smile.

"We are alright. A bit of few problems here and there that will time some time to take care of."

Nodding, he turned to Sakura and called out to her, prompting the girl to run to the old man. "We need to talk. Fugaku San, is it alright if you could come to my office later on perhaps around four?"

"Of course." He bowed.

But as the Hokage led her away, Sakura stopped abruptly, forgetting something important. "Give me a second; I'll heal up Itachi San before I go." She looked up at the Hokage. Before anyone could react, she ran back to the much confused ten year old. Sasuke followed her, possible to bombard his older brother with questions.

"She seems to be getting along quite well with the two brothers, even if she still haven't seemed to forgiven Itachi for that comment." He commented lightheartedly. Fugaku just frowned. Sensing his doubt, the Sandime placed a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "Don't worry Fugaku. She poses no threats to the Uchiha clan. If anything, she is here to keep Danzo away."

At their flabbergasted expressions, he sighed inwardly. "I will explain in detail later. All I can tell you now is that she will not let Danzo or the Konoha Council harm the Uchiha." He turned back to where Sakura was now telling Itachi to 'shut up' in order to heal him up. "She is an extremely powerful kunoichi."

"Who is she?" Mikoto asked quietly, curious about this girl. "She didn't get lost on the way and stumbled here by accident did she?"

"Ah she did get lost." He puffed on his pipe. "From what I've heard, this girl has been nearly killed a whole lot of times before she finally stumbled here. Konoha is her home and she is grateful to be here of course. But she has no family, no friends here. And in course of her mission, I decided it would be best if she stayed with the Uchiha."

"I see." Fugaku sighed after a long while of silence. Silently, he decided to trust the Hokage. He was of course, angry at the Konoha Council for boycotting them and for mistrusting them. He personally held no grudge against Sandime himself, seeing how he was peaceful and tried to avoid conflicts. If this was an attempt at trying to fix everything between the Uchiha and Konoha, he would very well welcome it.

Still he couldn't see how a little girl could do as much as to protect the Uchiha. She seemed to be warm and friendly, and very willing to obey him so far. Was she just a pawn in the board? Or was she the one controlling the game? In due time they would all know. For now, he would let the Hokage and this girl do whatever she wanted.

This change of plans meant that he would have to talk to the Konoha elders. It probably wouldn't be easy to convince them to try postpone the coup they were planning. But to be truthful, he personally took no interest in violence either, finding it troublesome. Also, it would not bide well for his two children growing up steadily, whom he were trying so hard to protect. Despite his stern attitude, he truly loved them, regardless of what choices they made and would make for the future.

If there was even the slightest of chance to save them from the unkind fires of the war that was lighting, he would snatch it. And that was what he was going to do; keep the girl safe in turn for saving the Uchiha. Turning to the Hokage, he made a humble promise to keep the girl safe within their home, away from the cruel elders of his clan as well as the Konoha council.

Sarutobi was pleased that Fugaku was more than willing to accept Sakura within them. A spark of hope lit then, signalling that the silent feud could be halted, and the peace would once more return. The two shook hands then, agreeing to try their best to solve the matter peacefully.

"I have one more request Fugaku San." Sarutobi smiled, making Fugaku nod, slight curiosity settling in his eyes. "Since little Itachi doesn't seem to be getting along with his genin teammates...I propose we move him into a new one with more experienced shinobi. They resent him and lack of teamwork would hinder his progress. What do you say?"

"I agree." The Jounin turned to look at his son. "His two teammates resent him for being superior." There was a slight pride in his voice as he did so, and it did not go unnoticed by Hiruzen. This was was indeed, very much proud of his eldest. It was really no wonder he paid a lot of attention to whatever he did.

"Then I will assign him into a new group. Sakura will be included in it, if you are alright with it?"

Fugaku agreed readily. As much as wary he was of the girl, he knew she was a powerful Kunoichi. Having her on his son's team would enhance their performance greatly, opening the chance for his son to move up in rank.

"The next one," He turned around to face a tree behind him. "Is Kakashi Hatake. Are you alright with that?"

Fugaku was more than alright; he was definitely pleased. Kakashi was a powerful nin who possessed one of their eye techniques. Despite the fact that a few Uchiha, -Usually the elders- found Hatake guilty of letting his teammate die, he was pleased that the boy kept his priorities in order. Besides, Obito died to protect Konoha; a self sacrifice. It was unavoidable.

He watched as the ANBU jump out of the tree and nodded as he bowed in respect.

"The last one would be Shisui Uchiha, master of the body flicker technique." He laughed gently. "Itachi would be glad to have his best friend on the team."

"Shisui? I see, that is all?"

"Indeed." Sarutobi grinned as the three children arrived. "Itachi, there has been a change of your team." He looked at Itachi's confused expression and decided to continue. "It will now consist of you, Kakashi, Shisui and Sakura."

"WHAT?!" Her scream made everyone jump a bit, particularly Kakashi.

"It's not like I have a choice over it." Itachi shoved his hands into his pockets, turning to her slowly. "Besides, how bad can it be?..Sakura?"

She was gaping at the masked nin, a completely shocked expression on her face. "Y-Y-Y-You.." She raised a trembling finger up at him. Kakashi, clearly uncomfortable and not sure of how to react to her, forced a grin and raised his palm in his signature response.

"Yo. How do you do?"

"KAKASHI~!" With a high pitched squeal that Itachi thought would be impossible for a human to make, the pinkette lunged at the ANBU captain, making them both fall to the ground into a heap. "IT'S YOU! IT'S YOU! IT'S REALLY YOU! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

"She...knows Kakashi?" Mikoto asked, cocking her head to one side.

"She was here before. He saved her once so she is glad she met her savior I guess!" Sarutobi lied easily, fully expecting that something like this might happen. 'She must be glad to see him again after a long time. I cannot think of what she may be going through right now.'

Deep down, Sakura knew that she shouldn't be acknowledging him like this and was grateful that Sarutobi covered up for her. The sight of seeing her sensei alive and well, after she had witnessed him pass away was all too much. The rush of emotions that went through her made her almost giddy, her eyes stinging to let out tears of gratefulness.

Never mind that he was completely, utterly dazed right now. She would explain later. Right now, she just wanted to hug him, to make sure it was really him.

"Um..." His voice broke through her thoughts. "C-Can you let go? I'm finding it hard to breathe..."

She obeyed at once, grinning down at him. "Sorry about that, I couldn't resist it after seeing your porcupine-styled hair cut. It's adorable!" She squeezed his cheek before getting off. "Also, what kind of an ANBU are you, letting a little girl tackle you? For shame Hatake. _For shame._"

"Pfft." Sarutobi and Mikoto both tried to stifle their mirth while Fugaku raised an eyebrow. Sasuke burst into peals of laughter and Itachi just stood there, staring at both of them. Kakashi was _not _amused a bit. She _was _kind of cute and innocent looking; the type which any person would be smitten by immediately. However with that shrewd smirk, she reminded him of someone who loved playing around with his victims.

With a snort he stood up, jamming his hands inside his pockets before following her and the Hokage away.

"I'll heal your minor injuries when I get back," she called towards Itachi who nodded in response. "If you can't wait, get your ass over to the hospital and have a doctor heal you!"

"She's so awesome." Sasuke murmured as he watched the new member of their family walk away with the Hokage. "You should've seen her! She used _green chakra!_ How come you don't have green chakra Nii-san? Everyone has blue chakra and she has green! That's not fair!" Sasuke started to throw a rant. "I want to have special chakra too! How come she's special!?"

"Because..." Itachi's voice stopped him and they all turned to regard the Uchiha who had a small smile on his face. "..she is unique."

Fugaku clenched his fists, eyes narrowing ever so slightly as he heard those words. He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. "Fugaku? Are you alright?" He heard her concerned, soft voice. Shoving his hands into his pocket, he walked away without another word.

* * *

"You are by far one of the irritating people I have met so far."

"I love you too Kakashi sensei!"

Kakashi felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Was this kid really his student? If it were so, then he pitied his future self. 'On top of that...the spoiled Uchiha kid and the prankster Naruto is there too...' He thought glumly. Just when he thought the universe would pity him and let him have some peace of mind for his future...

That was the thing about life. Sometimes you thought that things could go from bad to worse in a jiffy but in reality, life was just so bad it could not possibly ever get worse. _Ever._

"Lighten up!" She slapped his back, in an effort to cheer him up. Unfortunately she hit him too hard, and so the copy nin found himself lying face flat on the ground. Sarutobi turned back as he heard the commotion and saw Kakashi shaking a grinning Sakura by the collar, a bright red bruise on his forehead.

"Cut it out." He muttered. "Kakashi I don't deem it fine for you to be killing your student."

"She's annoying! And that Sasuke brat?!" Kakashi turned to the Sandime, demanding an explanation. The old man just shrugged, a smile itching at his lips.

"I won't change the original team." He announced, much to the masked nin's dismay. "Whatever happens, little Sasuke, little Naruto and little Sakura will be on your team."

"Don't worry." Sakura patted Kakashi's head as if understanding everything properly. "My baby version is nowhere like I am now."

"I hope so...for the sake of my sanity." Kakashi stood up, letting go of her neck and shoving his hands into his pockets once more. At this point, Sakura began to wonder whether the 'shoving hands in pockets' was a trait that passed on to anyone with the Sharingan, regardless of whether they were Uchiha or not.

"You probably were like this since the beginning. I could tell." Sakura's mood suddenly turned serious as she began walking. "The future is very different from now; your personality was not the same either."

"What happened to me?"

Sakura refused to meet his stare. "I will tell you later." She said quietly, making Kakashi snort in annoyance. From then on, she talked not a bit, instead keeping her calm face on. She knew both Sarutobi and Kakashi were a bit confused at her sudden change in mood. But then, it really didn't matter.

As they approached the Hokage office, Sakura mentally prepared herself to reveal all what happened to her. It was going to take a lot of willpower to force herself to tell them every single thing that happened, without breaking down. She thanked her inability to cry silently as she entered the room.

* * *

Sapphire blue eyes closed tightly and arms drew up to try protect the face it belonged to as a scream emitted from tiny lips.

"Fox brat! Shut up!"

Tears spilled as a fist made contact with the blond boy's cheek, making him fall backwards. The child repeatedly expressed his apology, only to be ignored by a cruel sneer that only served to make him even more scared of what was going on. Usually that meant that more blows were on the way. He wasn't disappointed.

"Why don't you do us all a favor and disappear?" He coughed as a foot jabbed at his stomach, rather hard. "You are nothing but a nuisance! My mommy told me you are a monster!"

Eyes dared to open to hesitantly look up at his assaulter. The bully was no older than two years to him, and from what he heard was already enrolled in the Shinobi Academy. Brown eyes expressed utmost disgust as they looked back at his own blue ones.

"I'm not a monster! My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" He tried to defend himself, only to be rewarded by a stomp on his head. He started to cry loudly then, both at the pain and the emotional hurt that was growing inside of him.

He did nothing wrong. All Naruto asked was to play with the boy. The next thing he knew, he was being pummeled to the ground and being beaten to the inch of his life. What did he do to deserve this? He was a normal boy like everyone else! He didn't hurt anyone either! If he unknowingly did, he had already apologized countless times, only to be ignored over and over.

The whole village shunned him of a reason he wasn't aware of, a reason he wasn't allowed to be told. 'It's not fair!' He sobbed inwardly as the seven year old continued to make fun of his present state. He could only lie on the dusty ground, waiting for it to pass. A few minutes later, he heard footsteps walk away.

The five year old Kyuubi vessel waited for a few more seconds to make sure he had really left, before attempting to sit up. With every move he made, pain shot up his entire body, only releasing more warm tears to roll down his cheeks. He sniffed loudly as a hand rubbed an itchy eye, the other helping him off the ground.

"Stupid people..." He muttered to himself, trying to dust himself off. "I'll show em that I can fight back too...ow!" He winced as his cheek throbbed, where the boy had punched him. A metallic taste filled his mouth and he felt warm liquid slide down his lips, trailing down his chin. "Aw man they got my tooth- ow!"

Slowly, he began to walk deeper into the playground. Towards sunset, more kids might come here. It was highly unlikely but it just might happen. As should they see him like this, they would just laugh at his expense. Nursing his aching face, he sat behind a tree, thinking of how to explain this to Hokage jiisan. He knew that the old man told him to tell him if anyone physically hurt him. But if he did, they would hate him more. Life was hard enough already.

Looking upwards, he caught side of orange and yellow tinted clouds flying among the sky. "I bet..." He whispered to himself, once more the feeling of hurt settling deep within his chest. "..if I had parents...they would never do this to me..."

A soft wind ruffled the leaves, making his spiky yellow hair wisp back and forth. It only added to the melancholy mood. Unable to contain himself once again, the boy burst into tears. And that was how Sakura found him.

The rosette was walking aimlessly through the town, feeling completely depressed and heavy as her mind kept on replaying the unwanted memories she forced herself to resurface. Over the last two hours she had visibly paled and grown lost. Not wanting to give any reasons to the Uchiha family she was residing with, she opted to go to a nearby park to cool her head off.

Besides, seeing Sasuke again, no matter how innocent and cute his was right now, she wouldn't be able to look at him without tears stinging at her eyes. She had forced herself not to flinch when Kakashi started shaking in fear, as she told of how everything happened. Speaking about his deaths in front of him was the hardest. And yet she forced herself to go through it.

'Thank god..' she thought as she saw that the park was vacant. Moving noiselessly, she sat down on a swing and taking hold of the ropes, let herself swing back and forth. She had planned to try seek out her little self and Naruto today, but after all that, she wasn't sure whether she could bear with it.

A loud sob made her stop short then, and she turned her head around to a nearby tree. Was someone there? There was no trace of chakra so she guessed it was probably a civilian. Standing up, she walked towards it, thinking it was probably a lost child. She prepared a warm smile on her face as she did approach, only to have it wipe off instantly as she saw who the boy was.

Eyes widened and lips parted slightly as she trembled at the sight of who was sitting in front of her, face buried in his knees and crying his heart out, occasionally repeating the word 'why'. He was dirty and had several tears in the clothing he was wearing, as well as large bruises here and here.

_Run, _her mind urged her. She wasn't ready to face off with this, and images of an older Naruto dying in her arms began to reappear in her mind. But then his cries began paving a way into her heart, and she immediately decided that whatever she was going to go through, she was going to comfort him. Bending down, she raised a hand and placed it softly on his head.

The reaction was immediate, and he raised his head at once. The moment he saw her, she saw visible fear cross over his tear streaked face. A burst of anger went through he as she saw that his cheek was swollen and bruised, a thin line of dried crimson caked over his chin. Someone had obviously abused him, badly at that.

"DON'T HURT ME!"

The cry was followed by him slapping her hand away and standing up. She guessed he was couching here a while, as the moment he rushed up, his legs gave way and fell back down. She caught him easily, encasing him within her arms. How she missed the feeling of his touch, the familiar scent of him. "It's okay. It's going to be okay." She reassured him, hugging him tightly to prove it.

Naruto stopped thrashing about at once then, and stopped crying. Curiosity took over at once and he hesitantly looked up at her face. She flinched inwardly as those familiar cerulean eyes bore through hers. Now, it was filled with tears.

She made a mental note to report to the Hokage about this.

"Who did this to you?" She demanded, focusing on him.

"N-No one..I tripped." He lied, averting his gaze. At the same time, a tiny hand raised itself to try cover the purple mark that was swelling up on his face.

"Don't lie." She narrowed her eyes. At his uncomfortable expression, Sakura forced herself to relax and then smiled. "Come." She spoke gently, taking his hand. "Let's go take care of those wounds."

At his shocked expression, she smiled wider, inwardly cursing whoever did this to him.

"Y-You mean it? You aren't gonna hurt me?" He suddenly looked hopeful, a bright smile making way to his face. It seemed as if the crying, hopeless child cowering behind a tree was someone else then, and she felt her own mood brighten up from his.

"Of course not!" She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I hurt you? You are the most adorable kid I have seen so far!" She bent back down. "Oh jeez...that looks painful. Maybe I should patch you up right here before I move you eh...don't move."

With this, she placed a hand over it and started releasing her chakra to heal it up. He began to mildly complain then, loudly at that. Typical of him really. Within seconds, the bruise was gone. Pleased with her work, she moved to his arms.

"How do you _do _that?" He asked, sounding awed as she released green chakra, making the wounds visibly disappear.

"I'm a medical shinobi." She answered him as she moved on to the other. "I heal people to-"

"A shinobi? You are an actual shinobi!" He exclaimed, looking at her as if she was a celebrity of some sort. "That's so cool! I've never seen one up close!"

"Oh really." She pursed her lips. "Who did this to you again?"

"Um..." He started to fidget once more. "If I did tell you, you'd go tell old man Sarutobi. And then the old man will punish the bully. And then the bully would come back to-"

"I won't tell the Hokage." She said impatiently. "Was it a civilian?"

"What's a...ci-vi-len?" He blinked, cocking his head to one side. Dear kami, this kid was so clueless! But then, it couldn't be helped. He didn't have his parents to teach him simple words as that. She explained the meaning to him and he shook his head. "A boy from shinobi academy." He answered.

"I see." She nodded. "Jeez...what a little brat..why did he beat you up?"

"I don't know..." Naruto looked down, sadness coming over him once more, to the extent she felt his loneliness herself from where she was sitting. "All I asked was to play with him..." He looked back at her. "Do I look like a fox? Why do they call me a monster? I'm not one! So why..."

She bit her lip as the boy began crying once more. Moving forward, she hugged him, hoping to comfort him. But the act of kindness only made the blond child wrap his tiny hands around her and cry even more loudly.

"To be truthful, I don't see any monster in you." She spoke gently, making him quiet down once more, looking up at her. "All I see is two sparkling, big, blue eyes, a tiny nose and lip on a cute face with whiskers on it! You look like a little kitty!"

"I don't!" He puffed his cheeks out, turning red in the face. "Don't call me that! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! Not kitty!"

The kid's mood changed like a cyclone in the tropical areas she thought, highly amused.

"Well then Uzumaki Naruto, my name is Sakura and I want to ask you something."

"Ask away! I'm gonna be a powerful shinobi one day you better believe it!" He crossed his hands over his chest, grinning like an idiot he was. She no longer had to keep the forced smile on her face; it remained there as if it always belonged.

"Will you be my friend?"

The moment the five letter sentence left her lips, he gaped at her. Was this girl serious? Was she actually _offering _to be his friend? The wave of happiness that washed over him was too much to contain then, and he found himself crying again.

"Aw jeez...you have a habit of crying a lot don't you?" he felt her hug him again. "Should I take this as a no?"

"NO! I mean, I will be your friend! Thank you! Thank you very much!"

Sakura closed her eyes as she leaned into his shoulder. "You are welcome...Naruto." Her eyes started to sting once more. "You're welcome.."

* * *

And later that night, Naruto found himself being treated to a large bowl of miso ramen at his favorite restaurant. With a loud 'Itadakimasu' he began slurping the warm noodles down, lips twitching at the delightfully rich taste that filled his senses. Of all the places he had thought she would take him to, it certainly wasn't Ichiraku's. Initially he had been worried about how he was going to pay for it, but then his Oneechan said she would willingly pay, with the money the Hokage gave her.

"Wow that was quick." He looked up at the amused tone and grinned at his new best (and only) friend. Who knew that she had the same love for ramen as he did? It was absolutely enthralling to know he shared so many things in common with her.

The whiskered boy pouted then, as he saw that she was already done through her second bowl. "No fair! You distracted me!" He whined going back to his bowl. "Mister one more!"

"On the way." Teuchi laughed gleefully as he set on preparing another bowl for the two ramen lovers. He was already starting to enjoy these two regular people visiting and was glad that they did so. What's more, he noticed that the boy who was shunned so much among the village was finally wearing a happy face.

The ramen stall owner never once considered the villagers treatment towards the boy right. He knew about the boy's past and the Kyuubi attack. And yet he could not, and would not blame the innocent child for all the lives that were claimed during the incident. If anything he saw the boy as a hero; someone who saved them by bearing the burden of being the nine tails host.

"Ne Sakura niichan," The rosette smiled at the nickname he gave her and turned to face him as he talked to her. "Where do you live?"

"I live...with the Uchiha clan. At the moment." She answered as she took a mouthful of ramen. Naruto scrunched his face up as he looked upwards before turning back to her.

"Uhh...Uchiha...? Okay...but then why at the moment? Where do you really live?"

Stirring the soup with her chopsticks, she sighed as she propped her chin on a hand, lazily looking at the swirling pieces of noodles. "I live with the Uchiha." She repeated. "It's a temporary home for me. You see, my parents are dead."

"..Mine too." He looked down at his bowl before slurping the soup down. "I bet they won't treat me as badly if I had them. I wonder what they were like..."

An image of a smiling Minato and Kushina flashed in her mind and she smiled. Naruto had told her of them soon after Pain's invasion and she was more than glad to sit there and listen while he recounted his amazing meeting with both parents. Still, she found it hard to believe that Naruto would actually punch his father in his gut the moment he laid his eyes on him.

"I knew your parents. They were such great people." She turned to smile at his shocked face. "Both your parents sacrificed themselves for you, so that you live on."

Naruto remained silent for a while before frowning and looking down on his lap. "I...think I would've been happier if they lived on instead..."

"You don't understand yet. When you grow older you will understand the situation that forced them to do it..." An image of the masked man appeared in her head out of the blue and on instinct, her hands clenched, only to make the chopsticks in her hand snap. She sighed as she kept it on the table.

"But your parents loved you Naruto. Your father was a great hero of Konoha. He saved Konoha, and you."

"...D-Do you really mean it?"

"I know so. And I find it right to tell you." She offered him a small smile.

Just as Naruto was about to open his mouth to reply, he was cut off as someone else entered the shop. She smiled sheepishly as onyx eyes glare at her disapprovingly and apologized, making the blond look between them curiously.

"Do you know how many hours we have been searching for you?" Itachi glared at her, making her grin widen and apologize. "We found out that the meeting had been over since long and I had scouted around the whole village trying to find you."

"Ne I met Naruto kun so, I felt like spending time with him." She scratched her cheek, trying her best to look rather sorry. At the age of nine, surely she had cuteness to her advantage. But then again, Itachi was not the whimsical type to be attracted to those sorts. It was not necessary thought, as he forgave her and after hearing her excuse, sat beside the boy.

"Uh...who's he Sakura oneechan?" Naruto tried his best to whisper but it came out in a normal tone. Poor boy being used to screaming so much, couldn't so much as to lower his voice. _That _was going to prove to be a disadvantage later on. Feeling a little bead of sweat on her temple, she looked at both of them.

"Anou, he's a friend of mine..." She gestured to him. "Rather anti-social but can be funny and pretty much a cool person. Naruto kun, this is Itachi Uchiha."

"Uchiha..." A sudden realization went through the whiskered boy as he recounted what his new friend told him a while back. "Sakura oneechan is staying with- MMPH!"

Forcing a grin, all she could do was to place a hand on his mouth, in order to stop him from screaming it out to the entire village. Quietly, she told him so and the golden haired boy quickly nodded at her tone, knowing not to argue. At the same time he stared curiously at the Uchiha.

If Sakura Onechan were to stay with him, it meant she stayed there everyday. Surely it would be alright if he borrowed her for one day now wouldn't it? So the boy turned to his senior and asked him so, making both shinobi surprised. From this point on, Itachi guessed that she was extremely good with children, seeing how they trusted her openly and so quickly.

"The choice is purely hers." He answered, an amused look coming over his face at the joy that crossed the kid's face. Whipping around, he shook his best friend's arm, asking whether she'd stay with him for the night.

Sakura nodded at once, agreeing to do so. At that moment, two ramen bowls were placed in front of them. Yelling the loud greeting, Naruto started slurping the ramen down at once, and that was when the Uchiha genius caught sight of the empty bowls once more.

"How can you eat so much in one sitting?" He asked quietly as he turned to look at Sakura. But the pinkette didn't seem to hear him, and he caught a happy and gentle look on her face as she observed her younger friend attack the bowl of noodles. "...You got the habit from him didn't you?"

"It was to remember him." She answered him truthfully. "It was a habit that grew on me. I got lonely and depressed and this place was a place I could visit to remember the good times. Still," an uneasy grin spread its way on her face. "Watching him eat makes me uncomfortable. I still can't eat as much as he can."

"I can see that." He sighed and then turned serious. "Tomorrow, we will probably be meeting with our new team. Shisui is returning from the mission tonight so he should be able to attend. It will be just a simple meeting so you don't have to be nervous."

"Please mister genius," She smirked. "I've attended a lot of meetings in the fu- past. In the past." Coughing up to cover her mistake she grinned. "And...about the match..."

"It ended in a tie."

"I was in the lead."

"You were at a disadvantage as much as I was."

Sakura pursed her lips and she sighed, annoyed once more. It was true she had been in the lead but it was also true that Itachi's clone could have attacked her at any time.

"Then let's make a promise." He looked up curiously as those words escaped her mouth. She looked determined, as she continued. "We will train our best. And then one day we'll fight again, to see who's stronger. Winner gives the loser whatever they ask."

Was it worth it? Itachi mused on the question with a smile. Another fight with her wouldn't do any harm, besides he loved a good challenge. Despite what awe others take about his genius mind, being smart really left him with nothing in life to strive to get. Achieving things without much work tended to bore him and perhaps this was one thing he could try work for (?)

"I accept." He held his hand out for her to shake and she took his gladly with a smile, only to pause and make a comment on how soft his hands were and that he should always take good care of them. It left his amused once more. Seconds later, the blond boy was dragging the pinkette away promising to 'return' her by tomorrow.

"Why Itachi San, won't you eat any ramen?" Teuchi asked, a queer smile on his face. The Uchiha shook his head.

"Thank you for the offer though." He nodded and walked out, leaving him grinning even wider. Well this was certainly going to become interesting, whatever was going on. With that in mind, the man smiled as another customer entered.

"Oh hello Shisui San. Back from your mission are you?"

"Yeah." The boy smiled as he nodded at the ramen stall owner. "And I'm pretty hungry. Pork Ramen sounds good."

"On it." He turned around to face the stove. "You know, you were being talked about a while ago by two customers who came here." He chuckled as he saw the boy blink in surprise. "Your friend and a pink haired girl."

"Pink haired...girl?"

* * *

**Q&A section/authors notes**

**(This chapter has been edited)**

**~Yes I am very much aware that I am late for submitting a chapter. And I apologize for that. Really. ^^/ **

**Now to answer some questions that some readers have put forward:**

**1) Itachi is formal around Sakura sometimes when his father is close. But as you can see from this chapter, he is a bit more relaxed now, knowing his father has not much of an objection to it. (At least he doesn't voice it out) He will also drop the 'Haruno san' soon.**

**2) Sakura's parents are indeed Shinobi in the actual anime. Her mother was shown to be a Jounin and her father the fourth Hokage in the new Naruto movie but that was with some things reversed. Still, they are shinobi, and I am making them both Jounin in PPF.**

**3) Mikoto adores little Sakura a lot. But Sakura has yet to trust the Uchiha Matriarch and until she is sure, Sakura will absolutely not reveal that piece of information to Mikoto. Even if she does develop a trust, Sakura would not until somewhere far in the future.**

**4) Fugaku asked Sakura to fight Itachi because he wanted to see how powerful she actually was. And no, he is NOT insane. ^^**

**5) Romance between Sakura and Itachi will _not _happen until they are of age. Well, Sakura may develop some feelings for the Uchiha later on (seeing she possesses an adult's mind) but the romance is not likely to start any soon. Sakura is right now, too focused on her mission and Itachi, trying to understand it and carrying his duties out.**

**6) Sakura may seem a bit different from the first chapter now, but that was because all around her knew her cause of sadness and melancholy. Now though, she knows she cannot waste her time being depressed and is focused on trying to carry her mission out. She is still the anger-fueled kunoichi we know and love, (as seen from this chapter) and she just needs someone to vent her anger out on. (Right now it's Itachi and more coming later on...)**

**7) Itachi is just 10 years old so it's perfectly logical to think that he would get injured. He is not invincible and we have to remember that he is just a Chuunin as of now. And several Shinobi have landed hits on him, not only Sasuke. Itachi is just developing his skills and once more, is NOT a killing machine whom cannot step into close proximity with him without being mauled or detonated.**

**Now for some answers to questions about this fiction before you ask. ^.^/**

**~Those who are confused about the actual result of the match, it ended in a tie...more in Sakura's favour for now I guess, considering she had Itachi pinned down like that with a kunai to his throat. About the thing were she licked off Itachi's blood and the sight triggering a frightening memory in Fugaku's head...it will be explained later on. -nod-  
**

**~ About why Fugaku got agitated when Itachi said that Sakura was unique, will also be explained later on. He doesn't want Itachi to get involved with girls, especially ones outside the Uchiha clan for a reason and that will surely be explained in later chapters. Be patient readers~!**

**~ Itachi has a playful personality and a great sense of humor (as shown from flashbacks and from the manga when he called Sasuke a 'snake expert') and since he's a kid right now, I'm exploring it further. I am making it so that Itachi can maintain that attitude as he grows up. (hopefully) Also, in PPF, I'm making his personality as so as to like making people with temper's annoyed. He will sign multiple death wishes in the future, I can assure you that.**

**~ Sakura was indeed glad to have met Naruto, her initial reaction for her mind to tell her to run was because she was simply afraid that her emotions would be too great for her to hold when she touches her once deceased teammate. Last thing she would want was to scare the blond boy by crying herself (though she is currently unable to do so, once more) but in the end, she managed to contain herself (thanks to years in ANBU) and ended up making friends with him.**

**~I am aware that the Hokage carried out a decree that no one could physically harm Naruto. But that doesn't stop the local bullies from acting it out. The elders refrain from it but instead ignores him. It is said that being ignored triggers the same reaction in a person as when he is receiving a great physical injury. So he is in fact, being bullied nearly every time of the day. (Makes me tear up to think about it really) But now that he has met Sakura nii, he is more happy and jovial, as his nature is. All he needed was someone to simply acknowledge him for him to feel happy. Having someone propose to be his friend put him on cloud nine. ^.^/**

**~I introduced Shisui at the end of the chapter since it's gotten too long already. So he will be re-introduced in the next chapter. I'm making his personality to be kind, social, likeable and very fun loving. He is Itachi's best friend and the latter did mention that Shisui and Naruto were similar somewhat, most being their ideals and ways of the world. Since he is a genius as well, I am not going to really uh, make him any rank lower than Itachi is right now, though I will make his age a bit higher than his. Maybe by two years perhaps? I'm not sure. But it will be decided by next chapter! Since he was said to be like a brother to Itachi, I suppose he would have his share of punches on the head. ^w^**

**~ The original team seven will meet soon so expect the idiocy and bawls between Naruto and Sasuke to start soon. Especially since Sasuke is a bit of a spoiled kid (the 'brat' side will be shown soon) who basks in the love of his parents and lives in a shinobi family, his clan would have probably poisoned his mind into thinking that shinobi were a hundred times better than civilians. And Naruto looses his temper over little things. Still, they both will definitely become close friends.**

**Again the authors notes went too long ne? I apologize once more. Can't seem to help it really. ^^"**

**Reviews motivate me to keep on writing so, keep reviewing!**

**Owari~! ^.^/**


	4. Chapter 4

Uzumaki Naruto was in an extremely happy mood. Everyone noticed it at once, a few quite surprised at the sight of the boy walking so merrily among the streets of Konoha, caring not an ounce about the glares some shot him. It seemed as if for once, he was immune to their obvious distaste of him. Once in a while he would open those sparkling blue eyes of his and look slightly upwards at the sky as if recalling something and then would smile brightly.

Even if they refused to admit it, the very sight somehow warmed some of their hearts. It surely wasn't everyday they saw someone smiling so brightly that it seemed as if absolutely nothing could ruin his day. So when the blond boy accidentally bumped into a large man, they watched his reaction. Instead of crying as he normally did and run off in the face of the waves of insult that were shot at him, he merely bowed and apologized and carried on, as if nothing happened.

Said child was not in high spirits for no reason. For once, he started off a day with a good wakening.

The previous night, when he had drifted off to sleep with his new friend by his side, he half expected that she must be gone by morning. So when he woke up, he was mildly upset to see that she had indeed left, but with a note by his side. The sad mood quickly lifted as surprise took it place, as he saw that for once, his apartment was clean.

Being a child, he could not clean his own home or cook his own meals. So the Hokage had assigned a special maid to come at times to clean it up and to fix some meals for him. But like all others, she despised him and so, purposely left him on his own most of times to fill his stomach with cup ramen or cheap, cold onigiri sold in a shop nearby. He didn't bother with cleaning; it took too much of a work.

He was at first slightly uneasy stepping on such wonderfully waxed floors, but the moment the smell of fresh food hit his nose, the curious child had hurried off to see what was on the table in front of him. Wide eyes relaxed as tears began to form and freely ran down his cheeks. With swimming vision, he clutched the piece of paper in his hand, as he had struggled to read what was on them, the moment he understood it, just cried harder.

His best friend had done so much as to prepare a full meal for him, a large traditional breakfast that he had many a times dreamed of eating with his family. A meal that someone prepared for him. _Just for him. _

Wiping his eyes with the back of his sleeve, he attempted to climb up the chair, only to see another note on it. Blinking, he took it and slowly read each word once more, and once he did, blinked again in surprise before grinning. Then he took off running to the bathroom where he took out the little green toothbrush and set on brushing his teeth.

She had gone so far as to remind him to clean his teeth. Impatiently then, he scurried back to dig into his meal. It was still warm, which made him realize that she didn't leave too long ago. That also explained why his bed was warm when he woke up. The breakfast took a long time, stuffing in as much as he could of the tantalizing bits of fresh food before deciding to store the rest away for lunch.

Since Sakura Oneechan was probably busy training now, he decided he would just go to the playground to spend time with himself. After all it was still early and there wouldn't be much kids there. He wouldn't care if their parents dragged them away; today he would be content playing with himself in the sandbox.

'Should I build a castle...or a normal house...?' his childish mind mused as he walked on, uncaring about the confused people around him.

* * *

"Well...this could take a while..."

Itachi nodded in agreement, sighing inwardly as he rubbed his temple. Soon after having their morning meal, the two Shinobi had hastened to their new team's meeting spot, both being of the strictly punctual type. To their annoyance, their two teammates showed no sign of appearing soon, and nearly an hour had already passed.

Sakura began twirling a kunai in her hand, extreme boredom filling her as time went past. The pink haired Kunoichi was not usually used to standing around without doing anything; in the past years her life had been extremely hectic, running from one duty to completing another, leaving almost no time for her to catch a breath.

And yet she was used to it and had accepted it as her life for nearly five full years. This sudden change was growing to be a growing, slight discomfort for her and her energy was bubbling inside to release itself and shatter a rock or heal someone at the hospital the least.

"Sorry I'm late you guys but... I got lost of the road of life while on my way here so I had to stop and ponder..." Her left eye twitched as she stopped swinging the knife in her finger, at the much too familiar excuse put forward by non other than, Hatake Kakashi.

"I wonder if they take lack of punctuality well in ANBU headquarters." Itachi stared blankly at the masked nin who laughed in response. Reaching up, he scratched his cloth covered cheek.

"I had an emergency meeting with the Hokage. And then while returning a black cat crossed my path so I had to take a longer route."

The ten year old Chuunin was hardly amused. If anything, he wondered if this certain excuse making would continue for a long time. As if hearing his mental musing, the rosette quietly confirmed it was going to be so, much to his disgruntlement. Now all there's left to wait was his best friend.

"So I'm finally going to meet Shisui of the Body flicker hm?" The rosette sounded enthralled as she thought out loud. "I wonder how he is..."

"He's quite a ladies man..._boy. _Just as Itachi is." Kakashi crinkled his visible eye, to show that he was smiling. Sakura pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes slightly. So he was already on that level of pervertness as so she could she it. Of course, this was Hatake Kakashi they were talking about. The one who wouldn't think of going anywhere without his precious book.

"His abilities Kakashi...I meant his abilities.." She said quietly, while shooting a half glare at the grey haired ANBU. He laughed in response, shrugging slightly before nodding and confirming that he indeed was a prodigy; one who mastered his sharingan at age ten.

"Meaning he's older than us?"

Itachi nodded slightly as he looked at her confused face. "He is twelve." She hardly seemed impressed that the shinobi had mastered the sharingan at a young age. Then again, she probably had it already embedded in her head that he was very strong. At a loud 'good morning' all three turned their heads to see a widely grinning, black haired shinobi waving at them, in a manner that reminded the girl of an older Naruto.

"Sorry I'm late! The Hokage called me to brief on something!"

"Shisui." At Itachi's acknowledgement, she blinked and pointed at him.

"You...are Shisui Uchiha?!" Her loud announcement made the boy stop and grin at her before nodding. His unusually bright attitude and cheerful smile made it hard for her to accept that he could really be an Uchiha. Then again, there probably were cheerful shinobi like this around; she probably didn't meet them yet.

Moving forward, the shinobi quickly grabbed her hand and gave it a soft shake while looking down at her with the biggest smile she had seen since Naruto. "My name is Shisui Uchiha, nice to meet you Sakura Chan!"

Blinking in surprise, she looked at him curiously as to how he was already aware of her name. He chuckled as he pinched her cheeks, much to her annoyance. "The Hokage told me all about you and your mission. My, you are a cute little girl aren't you?"

"That," Kakashi suddenly turned serious, the aura of a deadly captain surrounding him quickly. "is exactly what we need to discuss."

"The fact that she is cute?" The lighthearted Uchiha asked cheekily, ignoring the glare the pinkette was giving him. The serious atmosphere which Kakashi had successfully created with a mere sentence was destroyed in a matter of seconds, all because of the carefree Uchiha Shisui. And the copy nin was not liking this one bit.

"Oh jeez Kakashi senpai calm down!" With this, he swung a hand over her shoulder and Itachi's while grinning at the now, highly irritated masked ANBU. "Today's the first day as a team! No need to get worked up!"

"Shisui we are in an extremely-"

"How about we go somewhere and introduce ourselves properly?" Shisui continued, now completely ignoring the older teen and turning to the others. "I know Itachi but then, I probably don't know you as much as I know you cherry blossom princess!"

"...Stop calling me cherry blossom princess." Sakura muttered in a low voice. "It sounds ridiculous."

"How adorable!" He cooed, now ignoring the warning looks his best friend shot him. It was as if the Uchiha _tensai _were indirectly telling him not to mess with her. For years they had been friends and so, the older boy had learned understand his younger companion's mood and attitude.

Still, he couldn't understand why Itachi was silently warning him to back off from her. While lost in his thoughts, he failed to gather the deadly aura that was steadily escaping from the pinkette and didn't catch the deadly glare she got him.

"You're so short you know." He rambled on, looking down at her with a curious face. "Really now you should eat more or something. Plus, you are pale. You lack color to your face."

"Shisui..." Now it was Kakashi with his warning (and somewhat nervous) tone. "Stop babbling..._now._"

"He's always like this?" The nine year old asked quietly as she crossed her hands over her chest. And to think she expected the legendary _Shunshin no Shisui _to be one of those calm, quiet and elite Shinobi. This change was nice though, knowing there was at least _one _Uchiha she could talk with who wasn't emotionally constipated.

Still it didn't change the fact that she was thoroughly annoyed by him addressing her with odd nicknames. She had a feeling that he was going to be the noisy and hyperactive one of the group. Quietly, she wondered whether it was a must for every team she was on to have a loud and boisterous shinobi who did everything they could to annoy her.

"Yes...unfortunately." Itachi confirmed quietly averting his gaze upwards to watch the lazy clouds. He sighed mentally as his best friend began berating him for being rude. At times, he wondered how on earth this guy became his best friend, no less his brother.

"Shall we go introduce ourselves as planned now?"

* * *

An hour later, the four Shinobi were hanging around in their own personal training grounds which the Hokage gifted them with. Sakura was lying at the foot of a tree, highly amused as she watched an odd exchange of words between the two Uchiha in front of her. If anything, she did not expect the fun humored shinobi to start an endless (and very much pointless) argument with Itachi.

And what was more, the younger Uchiha was actually answering them, albeit in a very bored manner. If they were to behave in a less mature way, surely they'd resemble a bit like her old teammates. Though surprisingly, the rosette just couldn't picture Itachi acting like his once emotionally constipated brother. And _not _surprisingly she couldn't picture him as Naruto either.

Kakashi though, was himself. Since she had already figured out his addiction, he was once again back to reading the orange book of his. Though this time, he just couldn't stop the perverted giggles from escaping from his throat. And sitting next to him, it was a bit unnerving. It had been a while since she had seen it though and she was pretty sure she could touch that book without getting any bad memories now.

Sure she really didn't like to read books as that; she'd rather be researching on poisons and medicinal herbs. And yet, she was extremely curious of what this book, what Naruto's godfather had written through years of 'research', could contain. It did seem as if it were very popular among a large number of people she had met. It wouldn't hurt to _ask _him right? After all, she did have an adults mind.

So with that, she scooted closer to him and leaned towards his ear, surprised that the copy ninja couldn't even notice that she did. Was he really that engrossed with the book? Her curiosity was just increasing.

"Hey Kakashi sensei?" She whispered, in the most silent way she could without scaring him out of concentration.

Of all the possible reactions she could have pictured him doing, it certainly wasn't screaming, jumping up and staring at her while twitching. Then he pointed a trembling finger at her.

"STOP DOING THAT! IT'S CREEPY!"

"Doing what?" She blinked, unable to understand why her sensei was practically hyperventilating. All she did was whisper in her ear. An unlikely explanation was that he might have mistaken her hushed tone for a ghost. But that was something Naruto would think of...really now...

"Doing..._that_! You don't know how creepy that is! If you can whisper do it in a more normal way!"

At a loud laughter, she turned to see Shisui rolling on the ground like a retarded turtle which couldn't get back up straight while his friend just sat there, silently looking at him with an unreadable expression. "Kakashi you and your perverted mind! You are going to get labelled as a pedophile!" He laughed while pointing at the masked man.

"I WAS READING A PART WHEN THE MAIN FEMALE CHARACTER SAID THAT! YOU THINK I WOULDN'T GET A HEART ATTACK?!" Kakashi's loud protests only served to make the Uchiha laugh even harder, to the extent tears were escaping. It wasn't amusing to Sakura who had not one clue of what was going on right now.

If it were anything, Sakura never expected her new team to be so...lively. She figured that since the three males were notable and extremely powerful shinobi, they would be quite serious. Itachi excluded, the boys were indeed idiots. Sighing in irritation, she lay back down and covered her eyes with one arm as she thought about her situation.

Since they weren't really doing anything except wasting time, the rosette decided that this would be a good time to try think of what to do in her plans. But before she could do as so much as to start thinking, she felt Shisui's chakra settle beside her and then, felt a shadow over her face. Moving her arm just enough for one eye to peek out to see what happened, she saw his face hovering above hers, the idiotic grin plastered to his face.

"...Do you need something?"

"No, but you suddenly went quiet so...I thought I'd see what's wrong with you." He answered plainly.

"And you hope to achieve that by staring at my face?"

Before he could make a smart remark of his own, Itachi tugged him away, an irritated look on his face. "Stop staring at people's faces while only centimeters close to them. It's creepy."

"The cherry blossom princess's bipolar mood changes are creepier!"

_What._

And so, the next split-second later, Shisui found himself embracing the ground several meters away from where he was originally sitting, his left cheek swollen and bruised so badly he could see the purple on it. Also, he felt a loose tooth. However, before he could react, he was facing the sky once more with a bit of weight around his hips. And then the creepiest face he had seen in his entire twelve years loomed above his. A face with _chakra film_ around it.

"What did you mean by bipolar mood...? Are you suggesting that I am abnormal?" The suddenly, terrifying pink haired girl asked in a low tone, a visible vein bulging above her right eyebrow, which was also doing a series of twitching. And that added to her scary aura.

"No you got that wrong...I meant that your mood changes a lot! And its cute!" He tried to explain, trying to force a grin to his face. The poor nin just couldn't believe that this terrifying monster like being was the same person as the absolutely adorable and cute, innocent girl he had met just a while ago. He vaguely remembered the Hokage warning him not to annoy her too much and wished he did so.

And right now, he was sure this girl was going to murder him if he messed up once more. The smart shinobi decided not to use his body flicker technique; if he did so it would only anger her further. From what Sarutobi Sama had told him, it seemed that she had single-highhandedly defeated Itachi who had his sharingan on to fight at the full potential, all with less then _half _her chakra reserve.

Terrifying indeed...

"SO YOU THINK MY JUDGMENT IS WRONG IS THAT IT!?"

Said shinobi panicked. What did his father tell him often? Ah yes, 'no matter what you say to an woman who is furious at you, she'll take it wrong and will murder you.' And Shisui did not have a death wish. He had a bright future ahead of him! He was going to enter the ANBU, become a high ranking shinobi in Konoha, marry a beautiful woman, have kids and...die an old man while surrounded by his grandchildren who wanted his wealth...

Alright, so that was not the most comforting thought at the moment. He smiled brightly despite sweat running down his temples. "No of course not! You are very correct! I was just fooling around you see! I didn't mean that you had a bipolar mood! It was a joke! Really!"

At her unbelieving face, he gulped. This was _not _good. "Ah...you wouldn't hurt your new teammate on the first day now...wouldn't you?" Much to his inward relief, she seemed to consider it before finally nodding.

"Yeah, I guess I'll let it pass for today." She sighed as she got off him. "Sorry about hurting your face...I forget about my own strength sometimes." But just as she was about to start healing it, Shisui made a remark about her manly her punch was...

"DIE!"

As Kakashi watched his student beat the life out of the preteen, so quickly that he couldn't even _attempt_ to use the body flicker technique, he began to hope that the Hokage wouldn't punish him for the kid's death. He had it coming anyway, and besides, Sarutobi Sama was probably watching all this with that glass ball of his.

"Should we do something?" He asked the other Uchiha who was staring blankly at the scene. "You do know he might get killed...you had a personal encounter with her didn't you?"

Itachi felt his left eye twitch slightly as he remembered the uneasy events of yesterday. Even if she had delivered near fatal injures to him the day before, he recalled that she did not try to _murder _him the way she was to his idiotic best friend right now. Sure he had made a joke that angered her at the end of the match...but this was ridiculous.

Silently, he came to a conclusion that intervening will most probably transfer her anger from Shisui to him. Besides, it wasn't like she was going to truly take his life away. "...not helping will teach him a life lesson."

Kakashi chuckled uneasily. "Ah...I see..." he muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.

As a loud shriek echoed through the whole grounds then, the two winced but before they could so much as turn around to see what happened, the whole ground shook and the two wasted no time into jumping away to the safest tree nearby. Once they did so, Kakashi turned to see if their teammate were still remaining on ground.

"W-Where is he!?" He choked out when he failed to notice the boy among the broken pieces of earth and dust clouds. Soon though, he saw the screaming kid run out from one smoke cloud, the pink haired girl chasing him while throwing a number of weapons. He desperately turned to Itachi once more, wondering what to do.

Said boy just smiled. "What? This is entertaining."

"ENTERTAINING MY ASS! ITACHI HELP ME OUT!" Shisui screamed once he heard his best-friend's remark, only to receive a simple wave. Before he could shout out once more, he was yanked back by his collar and the next thing he knew, he was flying among the clouds.

"I bet I'll make friends with the birds a lot from now on..." He mused as a flock of ducks went flying past, all staring curiously at the strange looking avian without any feathers, floating midair.

**QUACK!**

* * *

Fugaku Uchiha was not having a good day. It was nearing midday now and he was still seated in the hall where his clan elders were harshly castigating him for his actions. Somehow they had found out about the pinkette residing there and they were not pleased at all.

The old men and women glared accusingly at the unwavering Uchiha with a blank face, anger growing with each passing second.

Fugaku expected this well, and so had not really been nervous when being summoned to the HQ's so early in the morning. If anything he had mentally prepared himself for the long and painstaking ordeal that he was going to have to go through.

"You should have consulted us first!" One woman hissed, her wrinkled and pointed face similar to that of a vulture of the desert that hadn't had a decent meal in weeks. "Who do you think you are doing things as you please?! You are the clan head yes! But as the elders, you are supposed to come to us for consultation on such matters!"

Inwardly, the Jounin scoffed. For all he knew, the old members of the clan elders did nothing but lounge around at bars or their homes, laughing and joking around while playing shogei or simply sleeping. He knew that they didn't do any work for the clan. Why, it was _he _who had to strive to make the clan as well as it was right now!

Itachi was _his _son and it was he who bought the honor and fame upon his clan! And yet the old hags had to poke their noses in where they didn't belong, ordering them as if they were merely their pawns.

'Could be that they are becoming senile.' He thought quietly as he lent only half an ear towards their screams and wailing. All he wanted to do now was to go home and take a nice nap after some warm green tea that would surely calm him headache down.

"How are our plans going to proceed with an outsider living in your home?!"

Here it finally came. Taking a deep breath, he looked straight into their eyes. "If things go well we shall not have to proceed with the coup d'etat. We can solve this peacefully."

"PEACE!? THERE IS NO PEACE! Stop talking like that crazy babbling man titled with the Hokage! You do know how they have been treating us ever since the nine tails attack-"

"Give us a few months." It wasn't a request, it was an order and they all noted it, falling silent. Some members of the Konoha Military shared nervous and confused glances and quiet murmurs began breaking out in the large hall. "Perhaps two years. We will proceed if there is no other way. Let my son enter higher ranks to try deal with this."

"An year...you suggest we post-pond our plans for two whole _years_?" The leader of the clan elders, the frail looking man finally spoke, tone completely neutral. The clan head still refused to waver. He nodded, head high as the proper leader of the Uchiha should be. He was going to convince them through this no matter what.

"If you would like, I would get that girl to come here personally to give a pledge to never harm us, if that comforts you."

The elder seemed to consider it and after a few seconds he nodded. "Very well, we accept it. Two years it is. Make sure she comes here Fugaku, I want to meet with her."

Fugaku Uchiha was more than glad to be excused from the suffocating atmosphere of the Uchiha Council's office. Without slowing down, he quickly made his way to the streets, away from the Uchiha compounds. He needed some time by himself to cool his head down. Sometimes he hated his post of being the clan head, all because of the duties laid on his shoulders.

Within a few years, he was aware that Itachi would have the bear the brunt of everything. He felt remorse towards it and wished his son could live a bit more normal life. However, the circumstances were surely forcing him to push his son to become perfect in everything. He knew that Itachi was too gentle and kind to lead the life of a shinobi even if he were a genius with great potential.

Since he was barely four years of age, he had witness several murders and deaths; something that had scarred him for the rest of his life. It was sheer cruelty to have forced his son to enter the life of an emotionless shinobi and yet, there still wasn't any choice.

The head of Konoha Military hoped that things would be fixed soon so that he could live a normal life with this family. He knew Sasuke was not getting enough attention from either parent though Itachi covered up for that. He sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose to try calm himself down. Before he could continue with his thoughts however, he heard a faraway, shrill scream that sounded oddly familiar.

And surprisingly it was growing closer steadily. Confused, he looked around to try see where the voice was coming from, when he saw Shisui running towards him at an incredibly high speed. Before he could protest, the boy ran past him and away. Fugaku swore that his face was _white _...as well as had an array of different colors over different parts of it.

The next person that went past him was surrounded by green chakra and had pink hair...with a murderous aura seeping out of her. And the next stopped as soon as he saw his father and bowed briefly before giving a sheepish smile and followed his furious looking teammate. Afterwards, the supposed team leader and ANBU captain rushed past, yelling a quick apology.

Fugaku watched the four run out of his view, clearly causing a bit of havoc around. If he guessed correctly, Shisui had somehow earned the wrath of Haruno Sakura, and so her other two teammates were trying to stop her from brutally murdering him.

"A crossbreed between Kushina and Tsunade don't you think?" He whipped his head around to see a grinning Hokage, still puffing on the pipe. "They've been on this since morning, and had caused a bit of havoc around Konoha. A bit nostalgic eh Fugaku San?" He laughed at Fugaku's appalled expression. "Don't worry, I reckon Shisui will escape alive. More awaits near future at least."

"...Hokage Sama, the clan elders had a meeting today. They wish to meet Sakura."

"Let them." Sarutobi shrugged. "For now, why don't you had home to try relax a bit? You look worn out. I'll lay you off missions for a while, at least until things are sorted out a bit."

Fugaku bowed gratefully before he headed home to do as said. It had barely been two days since the pink haired girl's arrival and his household and lifestyle had drastically changed. And he wasn't enjoying it one bit.

* * *

Sasuke was not in a good mood. He had woken up to a practically empty house and was explained that both Sakura Oneechan and Itachi OniiSan had left to meet up with their team members while Otousan had gone for a clan meeting. And so the boy had eaten his breakfast in silence, sulking all the while. He had planned to try play with both older nin that day, since yesterday Sakura Oneechan was missing since morning.

His older brother had told him that she had gone off to spend time with another kid. And that thought made him sulk even further. Sakura neechan was supposed to hang out with _him. _Not another kid! He was worried that Sakura nii wouldn't return back to their house if she liked the other boy's house even better. And he hadn't seen her nor his brother the entire day.

Right now, he was sitting glumly in a swing in an isolated playground, a scowl on his face. _Almost _isolated. His onyx eyes lifted to regard the hyperactive blond, blue eyed boy who seemed to be having so much fun by himself, making odd figures out of sand in his sandbox. Also, he was making odd sounds with his mouth.

His mind couldn't think of any legit reason of how someone could amuse himself just sitting alone in a box...filled with sand. If anything, it looked downright ridiculous. Shouldn't the boy be doing something worthwhile, like practicing kunai throwing or practicing punches to prepare to enter the academy? Or could it be that he was a mere civilian?

"And PSHHH! DOWN GOES THE BOAT! And here comes the sailor- oh no! The sea monster! Quick do a water jutsu! BLARRRGHHHHH PSH PSH BWANG!" He yelled loudly, making the little Uchiha's eye twitch. It was completely _ridiculous._ And yet...the boy seemed to be content, as well as having fun. He watched the boy stand up then, holding a boat and an odd figure in hand and began to run around the place.

"QUICK! RUN! HE'S GONNA EAT US ALL! AHHHHHHHHHH!" He tripped. Sasuke swore the kid purposely tripped himself. He saw it with his very own two eyes. "Oh no...I fell...you must go on Aoi...I'm done for...do the jutsu...and free us all..." and with that, he fell limp. Just like that.

The whole playground went silent for a long time, except for the sound of some birds chirping in a tree nearby. If anything it made the scene look even more absurd. What seemed like minutes passed then, and he began to worry as if something had happened to him. The way he was lying as if unconscious looked...so realistic. And yet, he made no move to get up from the swing, opting to watch instead.

Right out of the blue then, with a loud yell he jumped up, nearly knocking the bewildered child out of his seat. "IT WORKED! THE JUTSU WORKED! WE DID IT! WE SAVED THE PEOPLE OF THE LAND OF RAMEN!"

Land of _ramen_?

"Now, I shall go back to my home...and sacrifice a duck for dinner. Or maybe I'll just slap a kid with a duck hairdo sitting on a swing with an ugly face at practically nothing. Probably just the beauty of the day. How sad. He probably lost his pet owl which has the same face. Oh...HOO! HOOOOO!"

It took a few seconds for the Uchiha to figure out that the blond kid was referring to _him_. "I DO _NOT _HAVE A DUCK HAIRSTYLE! OR AN UGLY FACE!" He screamed out at once, gripping the ropes of which held the swing rather tightly as so to prevent himself from falling off. The blond boy turned around, seemingly surprised.

"I wasn't talking about you." He blinked, putting on an innocent face. "Why'd ya say that?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to reply but then, shut it at once. He really couldn't give out any reason. If he did, he would be admitting that what the annoying kid said was true. Suddenly the blond kid laughed.

"HEY YOU MATCH MY DESCRIPTION! HAHAHAHA!"

Little Sasuke was now so furious, his whole face was turning into a bright shade of red; the color of a tomato which also happened to be one of his favorite foods. Jumping off the swing, he marched up to the annoying boy, all the while trying to look intimating. But the glare which he attempted only came out as an extremely cute and babyish face, one which babies made when they didn't get what they wanted.

And the very face made Naruto continue his laughter, while rolling on the ground. For a long time now, he had observed the black haired and eyed boy sitting alone on the swing, looking rather sullen and moody. He felt pity for him and had considered several times to try ask him to play with him in the sandbox. And yet, his grumpy face made him decide otherwise.

It seemed as if he was mad at the happy and bright day itself. 'Heck,' he thought as he finally raised himself up to face the other boy's angry face. 'He wasn't even swinging. Wonder what his problem is...'

"I don't like you." Sasuke proclaimed then, pointing at him. "You made fun of me and I didn't like it!"

To his surprise, the boy just shrugged before placing both hands behind his back and pouting back at him. "I don't care. Besides, you were sitting on the swing doing nothing like an owl. It was pretty distracting. Besides you were glaring at me."

"I wasn't _glaring_. I was observing." Sasuke huffed, shoving his hands into his pockets before glancing at the sandbox. "What were you doing in the sandbox anyway? You were making weird sounds and noises."

Naruto blinked in surprise before grinning once more and running back to the box. "I was being playing the tale of the water sailor shinobi and the sea adventures! See the figures?" He held up the toys he were so merrily playing with a while ago. "Do you know that legend? Apparently they were really famous!"

"...No..." Sasuke muttered as he slowly walked towards him. "Where did you hear it from?"

"I heard it from my Oneechan!" The orange ball of energy blurted out, eyes suddenly seeming to sparkle. "Uh well..she's not my _real _Oneechan...but she said I could call her that! She's pretty awesome! I met her yesterday and we went for ramen and stuff! She's the best person EVER! Anyhow, she tucked me into bed last night-"

Sasuke's eye twitched. Last night? Could that mean that...possibly that his Sakura Oneechan had...spent time with _him?! _He shook his head. 'Impossible...' he thought grumpily as he continued to listen to the hyperactive boy.

"-she told me of this hero of the oceans long ago! She said they lived LOONNNNG ago but then their legend lives on because they were heros! I want to be that kind of hero one day!" He stood up and hit his chest with a closed fist, smiling determinedly before pointing at him. "I want to be a hero that everyone will remember! Then everyone will respect me and stop treating me like scum!"

"Treating you like...scum?"

Naruto turned around to look at the Hokage Monument in the mountains. "Yeah. They definitely won't! That's why...that's why I'll become Hokage! My name is Uzumaki Naruto you better remember it duck haired grumpy kid!"

As soon as the last sentence left his mouth, Sasuke scowled as hard as he could before stomping his foot down on the ground, hard. "My name is Sasuke! Sasuke Uchiha! Stop calling me duck haired! Argh I hate you!"

"U..chi...ha...?" Naruto pursed his lips and looked up at the sky with a slightly retarded look on his face (at least it seemed that way to Sasuke.) while thinking hard. "WAIT! Are you related to Uchiha Itachi San?!"

The five year old, who was in the process of marching away sulkily stopped, frozen in his tracks. How on earth did he know about his brother? Had his promotion to Chuunin raised his fame among the village, to such an extent that even idiots as this blond boy knew of him? Despite the pride that rose up in his chest, he felt stirrings of annoyance start to bubble in his stomach once more.

It really wasn't fair for his brother to be receiving all the attention while _he _was left behind. It really wasn't fair. He felt his head slowly bob up and down in silent confirmation before quietly adding that he was his elder brother. The bad day was already turning for the worse wasn't it? Suddenly, two hands slammed down on his shoulders and he was whipped around to meet Naruto's grinning face.

"SO THAT MEANS SAKURA ONEECHAN LIVES WITH YOU!?"

And so a block fell from the sky and onto the Uchiha boy's head. And that annoying bird went flying past in the silence. This...was_ so WRONG. _Sakura oneechan could _not _be the one spending time with this...this..._annoying kid!_

"HOW DO YOU KNOW HER?!" He screamed, making Naruto stagger back a bit.

"Well _duh. _I told you earlier. Sakura Oneechan took me out for ramen, made me dinner, read me a bed time story, tucked me into bed, made me breakfast-"

This was so _WRONG _on _SO MANY LEVELS. _Sakura Nee hadn't even read him a story yet! How come this weird kid with the name that came from ramen gets special treatment?! "STOP CALLING HER SAKURA ONEECHAN! SHE'S _MINE." _He growled as he faced up to him.

Instead of backing down however Naruto glared back, with more ferocity. "She isn't for anyone to claim! I can call her Sakura Oneechan too! She's my best friend!"

"No she's _my _best friend!"

"MINE!"

"**MINE!"**

"NO SHE'S NOT! ARGH I HATE YOU!"

"FEELING IS MUTUAL!"

Sasuke had just about enough. Huffing, he marched back to his swing and sat down, looking away snobbishly. Naruto followed, going back to his sandbox and began to make more buildings silently, a pout on his face. Both boys remained like that for a long time, not even bothering to spare a glance at each other.

Finally, Naruto peeked up slightly to see that the Uchiha kid wasn't even _swinging. _What kind of a person sits on a swing without swinging it? It was perfectly illogical; except for adults. He had seen many older kids and adults sit there without swinging, seemingly lost in thought. Could it be that Sasuke was trying to imitate the older people?

He snorted. 'What a loser...' he thought as he picked up the sailor shinobi and placed him in the boat, both toys which Sakura nee had bought for him yesterday. 'I can't believe he'd really say such mean things...still...he looks pretty lonely..'

And so, after a while, he once again made his way over to the kid and sat down on the swing beside him. When Sasuke refused to acknowledge his presence, the blond boy shrugged and kicking the ground slightly, began softly swinging, enjoying the cool breeze that ruffled his hair and helped him calm down after the heated fight as well as the running around.

He quietly began to wonder whether he should head to Ichiraku's for lunch or have the leftovers from breakfast. As much as he loved the taste of Sakura' Oneechan's cooking, he almost always had ramen for lunch and would hate to break that habit. Inaudibly swallowing, he realized that the meal probably would last him dinner as well. The meant no ramen for today!

He began to wonder whether she did it on purpose; the food she prepared had lots of veggies mixed in it. It was a trap! A clever and delicious trap that is...and it was not worth throwing away. He didn't know whether she'd return to make a meal like that again; shinobi were pretty busy and she probably was as well.

While lost in his thought, Naruto failed to notice Sasuke's curious stare directed at his swinging. When he finally noticed however, the Uchiha looked away, to bring another scowl upon the blue eyed boys face. "Look if you wanna ask me something get it over it." He muttered. "Or else stop staring. Its rude."

"Hmph." Sasuke pouted as he looked down at the ground and gave it a slight kick, making the swing move a bit, irregularly at that. Once more he attempted, only to kick off a bit of dirt from the ground. His scowl deepened as he tried it again, only to fail. With this third attempt ending without success, he gave up and once more, said motionlessly.

Meanwhile, Naruto who quietly observed the grumpy boy's behavior began to try think why he acted in that manner. His mind slowly clicked things into place and once he got an idea of what was wrong, a grin crossed his face. "Oh I know whats wrong! You don't know how to swing!"

His little secret finally having being exposed, Sasuke turned a bright red with embarrassment at the fact that he couldn't do a simple thing as that. "Normally Itachi niisan would push me. Thats why..."

"Psh, what a loser." At the comment, the annoyed boy looked up to scowl at the blond haired, whiskered kid who still had that grin on his face. "You don't let someone push you! You have to learn to do things yourself! From what I keep hearing from you, you keep on living under your big brothers shadow ALL the time."

It was the bitter truth, and even a strange boy he met just a few minutes ago could sense it. He really was having a bad day wasn't he?

"How stupid...jeez...hey look at me." As Sasuke did so, Naruto kicked the ground slightly and let himself swing back. "See? That's how you do it. Now you try."

He was teaching him? Sasuke really didn't like the idea of anyone but his clan members teaching him things and yet, this was one particular thing that looked so much fun...to do on your own. There probably wasn't any chance. Besides, since he was being nice, obliging wouldn't really be a problem would it?

And so, he slammed his foot down on the ground. "It didn't work." He huffed, making the Kyuubi container face-palm.

"No, no! You push softly! Watch!"

The Uchiha spent the next few minutes attempting to copy Naruto's movement's, growing frustrated by each passing failure. Just as when he was to give up though, he flew backwards. Poor Sasuke got the fright of his life and he gripped the ropes tightly to prevent himself from falling.

"THAT'S IT!" He heard Naruto yell. "NOW PUSH YOURSELF FORWARD!"

Sasuke hesitated for a second before repeating the same action and then, obeyed what the hyperactive boy was telling him to do. And soon, he was swinging back and forth beside Naruto, now with a gleeful grin on his face.

"See dumbo? It wasn't even that hard! All you gotta do is learn by yourself and everything's gonna work out!" Naruto grinned, prompting Sasuke to turn look at him.

"But you must've learned this from someone!" He blinked. "Who taught you? Mom? Dad?"

Naruto laughed and closed his eyes in order to prevent Sasuke from seeing his misty eyes before slightly slowing down. "No. No one told me. I learned on my own. Just by watching other kids."

"...liar. You can't watch someone do something and learn it yourself..."

"You try it then. Observe some _normal _kid," He didn't forget to stress on the word to irritate the Uchiha, and felt his mood improve once he saw his trademark expression; the scowl. "do something fun, and copy it."

"Fine...I'll try it out."

Naruto looked up at the sky and decided that this would be a well enough time to go eat lunch. He turned to Sasuke to see him climb off the swing and head off to his backpack, and bring out a bento box. He paused briefly before turning to the blond, a hesitant look on his face. "Um...would you like some?"

"Thanks for the offer but..I already got some back at my apartment. Loads of leftovers from this morning. Sakura nee made too much." With that, he jumped off the swing himself and prepared to run off, only to see Sasuke's crestfallen face. He felt a bead of sweat run down his temple as he decided that this kid was really, a big crybaby...even if he didn't cry.

"Ah...would you like me to bring back some? We could eat lunch together ya know. I have a lot of food she made and I really don't want to throw it all away because it tastes _reaaaalllllyyyyyy _good. So, whatcha think?"

Sasuke looked down at the lunch box his mother made for him and thought about the food Sakura oneechan must have made. His mother made him onigiri all the time, and sure it tasted wonderful. And yet, he so badly wanted to taste whatever meal Sakura oneechan must have prepared for Naruto. Turning around, he nodded.

"Alright! Wait right here! I'll be back!" And with that, he ran off. Sasuke walked back to the swing and sat down, softly swinging once more. Time seemed to go slow as he waited, growing impatient with each passing minute. Uchiha Sasuke was hardly tolerant and he hated waiting for things to happen. He'd rather make it happen himself.

His mother had always told him that being patient bought about a lot of benefits, but by so far, his childish mind couldn't register what benefits would it have for a person to sit down and do nothing while waiting for something to happen. Who knows when it might happen as well? His stomach growled, begging him to fill it with something. Sasuke never got hungry often; he was always well fed before he even asked to be fed. And as a result, the occasional rare moments where did feel hunger were extremely annoying.

Just as he was about to decide that Naruto was probably not going to return, he returned, looking quite out of breath. His eyes widened at a nasty looking red bruise that was located on his left eyebrow. He was sure that it wasn't there when he had left!

Despite it looking terribly painful, the boy with whiskers on his face was still grinning. "Sorry I'm late! Got caught up with something! Here's your box!" He shoved an ordinary looking blue box into Sasuke's hands. "I packed it the best I can."

Sasuke opened the lid to see the larger compartment completely stuffed with rice while the smaller one was overflowing with side dishes. He raised an eyebrow.

"Chopsticks are inside." Naruto said, his voice already muffled with food. "And the foods a bit cool since it was made in the morning so...whatever."

Sasuke nodded as he picked up of the side dishes and placing it inside his mouth, chewed slowly. The Jinchuuriki watched his face closely, squinting to see any type of reaction at all. "So...? How is it?"

Sasuke answered by glaring at Naruto and swallowing down several more. "I can't believe she cooked for you first..." He mumbled, earning Naruto's triumphant laughter. The two children continued to eat in silence from then on, Sasuke occasionally looking up to wonder how the hyper blond got a large bruise on his face. Could it be that he fell over? He was after all, one who couldn't be still.

After making it through the meal halfway, now already feeling full, he decided to ask his doubts away. And so he did, while keeping the lunch box down. Naruto refused to look at him for a long time before turning with a grin. "I tripped. Can you believe it? I was running down the stairs when BOOM, this cat appears in front of my legs and I trip over it and fell the rest of the way! It hurts a lot...I'm going to have to go put some medicine on later."

Sasuke was only slightly convinced, but since Naruto didn't seem to really want to talk about it, decided to drop the subject for later. And so he lay back on the ground to watch the clouds, out of complete boredom.

"So, why are you here? Mom busy with work or something?"

Sasuke snorted at that. "Mom doesn't work...but then she had to attend a clan meeting. And I came here to pass the time."

"Meaning your mom doesn't know that you're here?"

Sasuke shook his head. "Nop. She doesn't. But she won't worry, since this place is near the Uchiha grounds and Itachi Niisan comes here often. Plus I'm going to the ninja acadamy soon."

"Heh, beat you to that!"

"WHAT?!" Now completely shocked, he sat straight up to gape at the blond boy with the grinning face, unable to make out whether he was serious or he was just fooling around.

"I'm already in acadamy." Naruto boasted, laughing at the Uchiha's expression. "What?"

"Why on earth did you get special attention..." Sasuke mumbled, his trademark expression once again marring his face. Naruto only rolled his eyes at Sasuke's 'childish' behavior.

"Its not special attention stupid Uchiha." He said quietly. "Its just so to buy me time away from the villagers."

"Huh?"

"The Hokage let me go before one year because I can't mold my...cak...cat...what's that called...something to mold..."

Sasuke watched Naruto struggle before raising an eyebrow, deciding that he indeed was an idiot. "Chakra."

"I KNEW THAT!" Now it was his turn to turn red, with embarrassment. "Anyhow, I can't do jutsu well...so I lag behind in class. It's not like sensei pays me any attention anyway...who cares."

"...Why do they don't?"

"I don't know...they hate me for some reason. People call me a fox brat and all. Sakura nii is the only one to be my friend so far. But ya know the fun thing!? Whenever I do pranks on people it turns out to be successful! And then they go screaming-"

As Naruto went on rambling about his latest mischievous acts, Sasuke wondered why the villagers hate on the blond eyed with the cheery personality. And as much as he hated to admit it, hanging out with him made him feel less moody. It felt as if he had absolutely no time to be be sad; he found happiness in little things. Like the sandbox and the weird doll.

"-and then I'll become Hokage and rule over everyone! No one will hate anyone again!"

Sasuke chuckled before lying back down on the grass, spreading his arms and legs out to relax under the warmth of the sun. "I dunno for one thing you are fun to hang around with. Even if you are really are rude sometimes."

"It's called teaching you manners." Naruto snickered, crossing his hands over his chest. "Stupid Uchiha."

"Idiot."

"STUPID UCHIHA."

"IDIOT UZUMAKI."

The continued their brawl for what seemed like eternity, until they were interrupted by the voice of the female they both adored to great lengths. "SAKURA NIIICHAAAAAAAN!" And with that, Naruto rocketed off the ground and the next second, had her pinned to the ground in the tightest of bear hugs.

Shisui laughed as he looked at the struggling pink haired girl, who was quickly turning a bright red from lack of oxygen. "She's definitely good with kids...something to look forward to when she becomes a mother." They watched her somehow pry his hands off her, only to be re-tackled by Sasuke.  
It took both Itachi and Shisui to try peel them off the oxygen deprived teammate of theirs, who also seemed to be having fun.

"Oh? You both have met?" She blinked as she finally looked between Sasuke and Naruto, surprise evident in her eyes.

"Yeah! This kid needs to learn to respect people! Stupid Sasuke." Naruto pouted, clasping his hands behind his head.

"Idiot Naruto. You need to learn manners." Sasuke huffed, crossing his hands over his chest.

Sakura wanted to hug them and squeal in delight, while shaking them back and forth. And that was exactly what she did, save for the shaking. It wouldn't be too good on their yet developing brains of course..

"I was hoping you guys might meet! I was going to introduce you both to each other really!" She finally let go, beaming down at them with the brightest smile she could muster.

"You didn't need to. We're already friends. And it's all thanks to you Sakura nii! We were fighting for your attention and thats where we started talking and then settled a truce!" Naruto held a thumbs up to the now, confused Sakura Haruno as she tried to get a grasp of what he just said. But before she did, she caught sight of the nasty bruise on his eyebrow.

"Who did this?!" She demanded as she bought out chakra to heal it. "Bullies again!?"

"Itai...don't be rough oneechan..." Naruto pouted as she set on rubbing the dried blood off. "Not really, I fell down the stairs while getting bento for Sasuke. He wanted to eat your meal so I went to get him some."

"...I'll interrogate you later." She murmured in a low tone, making her teammates pale up. Kakashi placed a hand over her shoulder, smiling nervously.

"I understand you have worked with Ibiki...but that term is too harsh for _kids_...don't you think?"

Sakura immediately rectified her mistake, a sheepish smile on her face as she used a much more simpler word, while Shisui sniggered behind her back. As if life wasn't short enough for him already.

Shisui had finally used his specialty to save himself, though he was sure he wouldn't be able to always use it to arrive at his aid whenever she vented her anger out on him. The very first time he used it, she had been so awed, for a second he thought that she would back off. But it only made her want to test how fast he was. Problem was, she was insanely quick as well. Itachi was not kidding when he admitted to have used his sharingan the second the battle started.

"Oi you three!" Naruto pointed to the three boys, making them snap their attention to him at once. "Play with us!"

"Yeah we are playing prisoner!" Sasuke grinned, placing both hands over his hips. "Here's whats gonna happen! Kakashi Jiisan is the old, sick and weak Feudal Lord who can't do anything but sit on his throne to give orders-"

"Now that's not nice...making a reference to my hair color..." Kakashi muttered quietly, clearly irritated. Shisui slapped his shoulder with a grin in an effort to cheer him up.

"-Sakura Oneechan is the beautiful, charming, powerful, cool Feudal Lord's daughter who is kidnapped by Shisui monster!"

"That's right. Wait..WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?"

"And my Itachi Niisan is going to be the one to save her!" With that, he pounced on his big brother, grinning like a crazy child. "Me and Naruto are going to be the two shinobi you'll need to rescue her with. Without us you can't rescue her because Itachi niisan only knows one sealing jutsu and he's a Saumari."

"...Why does your brother get special attention?" Shisui muttered, earning a chuckle from a highly amused Itachi.

"I'm his brother." And with that, Naruto and Sasuke dragged the four off to the game. Sakura though, was not pleased of having to play the part of damsel in distress once more; game or not. She'd have to wait till they reach maturity to beat their brains out. Her two lovable little boys. 'Might as well adopt them.' She thought humorously while watching Sasuke and Naruto force Itachi to repeat the cheesy lines when he was going to 'rescue' her.

"I wonder if Kushina will forgive me for adopting Naruto as my son..."

* * *

**Q&A section/Authors Notes: **

**I...am terribly sorry for making you all wait for nearly two weeks for my update. Yes...I am a lazy prick who is trying her best to try be punctual. My brain shares the blame; it just wouldn't come up with good ideas. Honestly, it took me that period of time to write this short chapter. (It is at least 2000 words shorter than the previous ones)**

Anyhow thank you all for your kind and wonderful reviews! Now onto answering some questions you might have about this chapter:

**~Some people may get confused as to why Naruto is getting physically hurt now and then even though the Hokage forbade it. Once again, remember that the civilians do not physically assault him; it goes to the bullies of near his age. And since the older people ignore him anyway, they don't prevent their kids from hurting Naruto. If anything they'll drag them away in fear of the Kyuubi.  
**

**~I made Shisui slightly older than Sakura and Itachi, because I thought that would be more fitting for the story's plotline. In the actual verse, it was made known that Itachi looked up to Shisui as a brother. Now, Itachi was very much confused and very vulnerable to the things around as well as emotionally weak. _However, _Shisui was there to guide him and help him make his decision to protect Konoha. I think Shisui played a very vital role in keeping Konoha safe, even if you all don't catch it that way. I mean, suppose Shisui wasn't there to remind Itachi of his priorities while in a tight position, who knows what could've happened? We all know how traumatized he was since childhood; obviously he would be then. So there, I made him older in order to teach him stupid things! ^^  
**

**~ Yes I know, I made Shisui look like a retard. But fear not; he isn't. Shisui just has a bright personality and a happy aura, much like Naruto. I recall Itachi mentioning that Naruto and Shisui were somewhat alike! (As Naruto was to Dan...and Nawaki...) So instead of giving him the same old serious personality that seems to practically run in the Uchiha blood-line, I gave him a cheery persona. A change is good isn't it? Remember though: SHISUI IS NOT AN IDIOT.  He is indeed one of the most brightest around; though he acts retarded. (Like Naruto)**

**Sakura's first impression of Shisui was not good; mainly because he acted stupid. (Don't we all have that one friend who is one hyperactive oddball?) So now he would probably be the target for her assaults...at times. It is definitely going to go on to Kakashi as well. As for Itachi now...I'm thinking of sparing him more than others. After all, Sakura holds people with manners with a high regard. She is well-mannered herself really...though unable to contain her fury around stupid people...  
**

**~I know what you are thinking; "Sasuke wants Sakura and Itachi niisan together". Well...kind of yeah. I mean, they are both his older siblings now, and he thinks that somehow making her be with Itachi would not let Naruto steal her away. (Sakura really cares for Naruto and Sasuke knows that all too well) It's just his childish mind, seriously.  
**

**~ Ahhh yes...the Shisui monster part. It's going to keep recurring throughout the series. Naruto's going to adopt that nickname!  
**

**~ Speaking of adopting, yes...I think Sakura might as well do that. She is slightly loose in the head at times. Who can blame her? She's still giddy from meeting her teammates...I think. Overall though I think it would be the worlds _WEIRDEST _if Sakura decides to call Naruto her son wherever she goes. So no..I don't think it'd be a good idea for Sakura to legally adopt him. (Kushina would never forgive her for stealing her son away. Don't forget that their chakra records his memories...) So I'll just make it a quiet amused thought passing through her head.  
**

**~ SASUKE AND NARUTO BECAME FRIENDS! The finally awaited moment. I hope you are all regurgitating rainbows~! (Excuse my sick mind...) I decided it would be best if Naruto and Sasuke met first and develop their friendship. Don't you worry, mini Sakura will make her appearance soon! -lets out a squeal- I most certainly enjoyed writing about Sasuke's and Naruto's meeting and that is probably why it is the longest in this chapter. Forgive me but I am still waiting for it to happen in the actual manga.  
**

**~Shisui and Sakura are probably going to become close friends. You can count on that!  
**

**Reviews motivate me to keep writing, so keep reviewing! ^.^/  
**

**Owari~**


	5. Chapter 5

"Here you are little girl, that will be 850 yen."

Offering a bright smile, the pink haired girl handed the pharmacist the money before picking up the bag containing cold medicine and walking off. She half listened to the blond boy walking beside her, babbling about how idiotic Sasuke was, all the while licking a chocolate ice-cream she bought from him not too long ago. Silently, she sighed as she resisted the urge to rub her temples.

Not too long ago, Naruto and Sasuke had engaged themselves in an ice-cream eating contest in order to outdo each other and to prove who is the best. That would be on of the many ridiculous things they had agreed on. It so happened that the day happened to be an extremely cold one, with rain pouring down heavily. It was not surprising that Sasuke lost easily, having a low tolerance for sweet things and effectively falling sick easily. And what better way was to deal with it than to continue eating until everything regurgitated out?

Having the Kyuubi to assist him had not only gifted him the power to heal himself within a short period of time, but has also apparently bestowed on him a ridiculously high immune system that prevented him from catching the cold. She had berated herself once she realized it, for not having known that earlier, having spent years living by him.

"Naruto, you can't blame Sasuke for falling ill." she raised an eyebrow, making the boy stop his chattering and raise his angelic, Sapphire eyes up at her. The surprise vanished away quickly though and a pout made its way to his face and he turned back to the road.

"Yes I can, he should've told me if he were feeling sick. He didn't have to agree to eating sweets when he has low tolerance to them." He snorted softly, locking both hands behind his head.

That being said, she reminded him that Sasuke was as competitive as he himself was and quickly added the incident where the Uchiha kid made him swallow tomato slices and ended up drinking three packets of apple juice in order to rid his mouth of the taste, much to the tomato lover's chagrin. She smiled as an appalled look made its way across his face as he remembered it.

"Uhh...that was a long time ago." He muttered as he bit down on his ice-cream and muffled out the rest of what he said. She uttered a soft, amused snort herself and patted his soft, golden puff of hair. It was a miracle it remained that way even with minimal care. She guessed he probably got it from Kushina herself. Kakashi reported that Minato's hair was supposedly very rough though Kushina possessed unbelievably soft locks.

When asked for an explanation on why he was touching people's hair, his response was that he asked to touch his sensei's hair and then eventually he made her touch his wife's hair before proceeding to whine about women and their naturally occurring beauty. So much for beauty; Sakura hardly cared for her own locks of unique colored hair.

There was once a time where she used to fawn and obsess over her looks in order to attract her teammate but then, she put that past her in the Chuunin exams and vowed to focus more on stronger. As if she made a difference in that though. It still didn't help but make her feel jealous of other women's hair. Particularly Mikoto San's. The Uchiha Matriarch was a Jounin and had lead a tough Kunoichi life and yet, looked like a _hime _of the rarest beauty.

A stranger would have guessed her of being a single, civilian girl instead of a kunoichi. She was graceful and poised; much like a Kunoichi who specialized in assassination with the help of seducing.

"Well that's disturbing." She muttered to herself as the thought crossed her mind.

"What is?"

"Nothing." She smiled and nodded at some elderly Uchiha folk engaged in a game of shogi who waved at her cheerfully. Though most Uchiha were still wary of her, the young children and older people seemed to adore her to a great extent. It was heartwarming to know that at least. "We are here."

As those words escaped from her mouth, Naruto bolted forward and snatching the medicine bag from her, ran into the Uchiha household. "MIKOTO SAN~! I GOT THE MEDICINE! ONEE-CHAN HELPED!"

She watched with amusement as Mikoto came running to catch the swinging medicine bag in his hands, laughing all the while and thanking him. Ever since the little incident at the park, Sasuke grudgingly introduced Naruto into the family (with Sakura insisting he did) and was immediately accepted by Mikoto, much to little Naruto's surprise. He was expecting a harsh berating from them of course, but to his joy, found that they had no resentment towards him as others did.

Even Fugaku Uchiha seemed to show a slight, if any compassion for him. Naruto had learned to read kindness in the eyes of people; having experienced so little taught him to grasp whatever people would give him and so, caught it well. The family truly one with a warm aura. Perhaps the ones he liked the most in the family were Sakura onee-chan and Mikoto San. Itachi San was nice too, though a bit silent at times. And silent people tended to creep it out at times.

"Tch how annoying, keep it down..." Naruto snickered as an extremely pale little Uchiha wrapped with a large blue blanket came into view from a doorway, rubbing his little red nose and glaring with eyes that wore heavy dark circles.

"Well lookie here, the zombie kid has arrived!" He pointed at Sasuke. "This is what happens when you try prove yourself to be the best at everything!"

"Hmph..." The boy muttered, trying to glare harder but miserably failing. He was too tired as of now to even move. The only reason he got out of bed was because he saw Sakura neechan walk towards their house. Shuffling his feet lazily against the polished wooden floors, he rubbed one eye and let out a large yawn before staring up at the pinkette with tired eyes.

With that he leaned against her, encasing himself in darkness and trying to find comfort in her. He felt himself being pocked up gently and felt warm, protective arms encase around him. He smiled a bit as he found her shoulder and rested his head on it, this time coughing a bit.

"I'll go get his soup ready." Mikoto announced as she turned around half-way to run to the kitchen. But Sakura's and Naruto's worried looks made her stop briefly. It warmed her heart to know how close her youngest was to the girl and felt that he was indeed protected within this household. After all, with two older siblings and a kindhearted, fun loving friend, there was slim chance Sasuke Chan would be in danger.

"Don't worry Naruto kun, it's just a minor cold. Sasuke gets them a lot." She reassured the him, laughing when a look of relief crossed over the tanned boy's angelic face.

"I wasn't worried! Just wondering when he'd get better." He lied quietly, crossing his hands over his chest with a stubborn look crossing over his face. "As if I'd be worried about the jerk face..."

"Anou, where is Itachi San?" Sakura turned towards Mikoto with a questionable look when she felt his presence being missed from the household. Normally he would be in the grounds training or playing shogei with Shisui. But it seemed that today, he had been absent since the sun rose.

"The Hokage called him. I think its for a mission." She answered with a smile and then, lowered her voice to a whisper as she saw that her youngest had fallen asleep already. "It would probably be the first mission for you guys so you better get ready. He'll come home soon."

"Ah I see. I'll put Sasuke to bed and then will be back with you okay Naruto?" With that, Sakura quickly made her way to his room. The room was as usual, disorganized with toys, paper and crayons scattered around the floor. She reckoned that Mikoto would once more have to clean the place up.

Slowly then, she lowered him onto his bed and covered him with the sheets. The moment she let go of him however, he clenched his small hands on her shirt, refusing to let go. Sleepy eyes cracked open again and attempted to glare at her.

"I'm sorry Sasuke Chan." She apologized and smiled gently as she ran a hand through his raven tuft of messy hair. "But, I have to go meet up with your older brother to see about upcoming missions."

"You promised to play with me." He mumbled, sounding highly displeased and upset. It might have been the sneeze that followed after that sentence, but Sakura saw that his eyes started to glisten. "You are starting to act like Nii-san...you are never home."

At that, she felt slightly remorseful as well as annoyed at Itachi. She knew that he was busy with duties but that did not mean that he should make promises that he could not keep! She made up her mind to try talk to him about this to settle this all down.

"That's not true." She protested poking his forehead gently, imitating his brother on purpose as so to annoy him. Sasuke did not disappoint and she smiled as she saw his signature face; the infamous scowl make its way to his face. "I promise I'll play with you once I get home okay?"

"That's what he said." He argued, fighting to keep his little eyes open but miserably failing. Sakura realized that he was too tired to put up much of a fuss and decided to leave him be and to save the annoying for later.

"I'm sure he did. But it's a promise okay? When we get back, I'll make him play with you the instant we set foot in this house. To do that you must be in good health. So go to sleep, drink your medicine and eat your food. Deal?"

Sasuke seemed to accept it after a moment of thinking and nodded. With that, he stifled another yawn before sniffing softly and closing his eyes. Once she was sure that he had drifted off to sleep, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and walked out of his room, slowly closing the door behind her.

* * *

"Protecting some prince sounds ridiculous. I hate the mission!"

Kakashi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he tried to keep his irritation levels to the minimum. "We don't have a choice Shisui. This mission will judge our capability to work together as a team." He argued quietly.

"I reckon our teamwork would just go steps backward than forward. Princes are known to be extremely obnoxious and annoying!" The master of the body flicker jutsu exclaimed as he clasped his hands behind his head.

Sakura couldn't help but snort softly in amusement. Was it a must to have a loud comedian one in every team? It was really no wonder that Naruto bragged that Itachi had compared him to an Uchiha back then. She wondered how the serious Uchiha _tensai _could have dealt with him through the years.

It was absolutely entertaining to see Itachi pinch the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily as Shisui and Kakashi started arguing. It somewhat reminded her of her old team. Except for this situation, the role of Sasuke and Naruto were being played (very well) by Kakashi and Shisui, while her sensei's role was being executed out by Itachi.

"You both," Itachi started slowly. "I would rather if you silence yourselves this instant."

She turned to him in mock horror as the two shut up at once, instead opting to glare at each other, seemingly communicating through use of their eyes. "Itachi that was scary!" She exclaimed, making sure to exaggerate the sound of disbelief. Onyx eyes narrowed imperceptibly at this.

"The sarcasm has been noted in your voice." He slid his eyes over to where she was, without turning his head around.

"Your nothing of the sarcasm has been noted." She replied cheekily, grinning wider. She was in a mood for joking, even if he wasn't. She knew why he was in a bit of a foul mood; she too would be annoyed if she was given a rude awakening by her best friend. In his case, would be Shisui who poured a jug of freezing cold water on his face before dragging him out of the _window_; all because he heard the Hokage was giving them their first mission for the team. At least thats what the cheeky Uchiha told her.

The poor half asleep boy apparently couldn't even change his clothes and thus, arrived in the Hokage's office half freezing, dripping with water and dark circles underneath glaring eyes. Sarutobi had taken one look at the pouting face, slouching form, angry expression and had burst into rackets of laughter. As if the morning wasn't hell already...

"Cheer up weasel boy!" She patted his head, earning a grunt of displeasure from him. "I've gone through worse with Naruto hanging around with me. I can relate."

"Fine. We are doing the mission." She grinned as she heard Shisui finally give in. That was Kakashi for you; always stubborn and sticking to his word. He rarely gave in to others when he himself had already decided something; she was aware from personal experience. Said ANBU captain nodded and then turned to his team.

"Alright then. Since we got your approval..." He coughed slightly to clear his voice. "Let's head out. The boat shall be leaving the Port in-"

"BOAT!? NO WAY! I GET SEASICK!"

If Sakura could laugh, she would've laughed to her death and continued while bereft of life until kami's wrathful side kicked her back to earth for being too mirthful. The look on Itachi's face was just...priceless.

"Sakura..I hope you have a good excuse as for why you just took a photograph of my face...?"

* * *

Roughly two hours later, the team was settled on the large boat that was cruising through the clear blue waters. Sakura disliked summer and its unforgiving heat and yet, this was _almost_ complete bliss. All this would be perfect if they were leaving on a vacation instead, and if the noise of two boys puking would just stop.

"Itachi kun...you didn't tell me you get seasick too?" She smirked as she observed the kid next to her heave once more into the ocean. He didn't answer her, or rather he couldn't. She sighed and rested her chin on a hand as she let her weight be supported by the railings on the side of the ship and waited for his spell to pass.

"Some..." he finally got back up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, looking slightly green in the face. "...helpful medic you are."

"Still in a foul mood? I don't blame you." She snorted softly as she looked at the horizon, trying to catch a glimpse of any island that would come by. But according to the captain, there was no land for miles and the soonest they could arrive to their client's land was a whole day and night at the pace they were going. Any faster would mean the boys would die of hurling up too much.

Slowly, she reached for her water bottle and handed it to him. "Here, take this."

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Kakashi furiously patting Shisui's back as he continued heaving. Apparently he had eaten three big bowls of pork ramen before coming on the mission. No wonder why he was feeling rather sick. She wondered whether most Uchiha really hated water. She recalled Sasuke had once looked rather green while on their mission to protect the runner Idate. Perhaps it ran in the family?

"I do not get seasick." Sakura blinked and turned back to her (generally) sane teammate (who was probably going to be in a foul mood for a long time) as he spoke. "I think it was...something I ate.."

"Eh? Who gave you what?"

Itachi seemed to try think for a moment before nodding and turning to her. "I reckon it was the sandwich in the fridge...I ate it before coming here."

"Sound's like a case of food poisoning." She chuckled as she placed a hand on his slightly flushed face. "Hmm...it seems slightly warm too-"

"I'M DYING. CALL THE PRIEST!" They both had to turn as they heard Shisui's rather loud proclaim. There he was, tugging at the captain's legs and begging him to call someone to help him. The captain who was a largely obese, jolly looking man with a rather unkempt auburn colored beard laughed loudly and pinched the boy's cheeks, effectively turning them red.

"We don't have a priest! Why do we need a priest to ruin our fun? It's a sailors life out here!" He peered into the genius of the body flicker jutsu, grinning from ear to ear. The news was not taken well by said shinobi who truly believed that he was dying. Clutching his stomach then, he used his specialty to appear at the rails at the back of the boat and started to gag.

It was absolutely clear that he had a severe case of seasickness and that had completely emptied his stomach. Still, the older Uchiha continued to gag loudly, choking in between.

"He's not very fond of the mighty oceans I take it." The captain let out another laugh as he hobbled back to the cabins. Sighing, Sakura made her way over to Shisui. Seeing him severely weakened really was putting a strain on her.

She walked over to him just as he stopped gagging and leaned over the rails to try relax. "Oi, are you okay?"

"I told you I'm fine princess..." He sniffed, not turning to look at her even as she placed her arms around him. After a while of silence and being unable to put up with her stare, he sighed and turned his extremely pale face tinted with a slight green to her. "...Alright. I may have gotten a bit sick."

"_I'M DYING! CALL THE PRIEST!" _She imitated him, making sure to behave the same way he did. The little act sent said copy nin into peals of hysterical laughter and out of the corner of her eye, she saw Itachi smirk. Thoroughly pleased that she made a complete fool out of him, she crossed her hands over her chest.

"Not funny! I'm sick!" Shisui whined in protest, clenching his hands at his sides and turning a slight pink in the face. The rosette just raised an eyebrow and stared up at him, engaging both of them into a staring contest. Before a whole minute was over, the preteen gave up. "Okay I admit it, my stomach is a bit upset alright? But I told you that I get seasick a lot!"

"In which case you should have taken medicine before coming on board." She sighed, glaring at him sternly and placing both hands on her hips."As a Shinobi you are supposed to be aware of the basics of medic-"

"I'm too lazy to learn them." He interrupted her, leaning over the rails once more to stare out at the sea with a pout on his face. "Besides...we already have a medic on the team, who is you, and so we have no reason to worry."

Sakura could only sigh as he proceeded to start choking once more the moment that sentence left his mouth. But his stomach was completely drained of its contents and he had nothing to lose now. The best he could do was to try drink some lukewarm soup and to take a nap on the deck. If he were to return to his cabin right now, his symptoms would just get worse. Same thing could go for Itachi.

And so, she asked some of the crew members to get them two deck chairs, some soup and ginger tea. However, since ginger was not available on board, she ordered some dry crackers and lemon. It was less effective, but it would have to do for now she supposed.

As Kakashi watched Sakura take care of the two Uchiha, he began to wonder that it wasn't unlikely that she would become their personal babysitter near future. He could just imagine her clad in a kimono and hugging the two to her squealing "my babies" and trying to spoon-feed them. The comical and highly disturbing thought was cut off shortly when Sakura pushed two empty bowls of soup into his arms.

"Go down to the cabins and bring back some bread." She ordered, shooting him a half glare. Kakashi could only sigh and obey her. Disobeying would certainly lead her to attack him and he knew that it would be far from pleasant. The copy nin was already beginning to tire of this mission which barely begun.

* * *

Hardened onyx eyes devoid of any emotion stared down at the man kneeling in front of him, eyes cast downwards as well as trembling uncontrollably. The shinobi was new to his presence and therefore it was to be expected that he was terrified. But of course, that was how things should be; they should be fearing him. He was after all, the head of the ANBU root.

Danzou Shimura was the founder and head of ANBU root; an organization that served directly under him and strictly bid by his rules instead of the Hokage. Since long, he had lost hope in the ruling system of Konoha and believed that their beliefs in the 'Will of Fire' and 'peace' would soon lead the village to destruction. The main reason he decided to take matters into his own hands to protect Konoha in his own way was because he believed that none other than himself was suitable for the task!

Hiruzen Sarutobi himself was too soft and the fact that he held the Uchiha in high regard was one reason Danzou believed that the man have finally gone senile. The Uchiha were long known to be a clan who lusted after power; a group of shinobi with a power so great that if it got out of hand would definitely put the village under grave threat. It wasn't long ago that a certain Uchiha had gone against them. So them why was the old man trusting them so much as to place a strong Kunoichi under their care?!

"M-My lord Danzou Sama...the girl seems to be extremely well skilled. Enough to meet up to the standards of Uchiha Itachi."

He flinched and whimpered at the loud sound of his masters walking stick slammed down on the marble floor and at the low growl that escaped from his throat. It was clear that the leader was furious and to his dismay it was clear that with this situation, he would be in a bad temper for a long time. "Up to...the standard of Itachi?"

"Yes...it has been rumored that she has defeated him in battle..."

With a grunt, he leaned back into his comfortable chair and raised a hand to his temple. This was going to stir up a lot of trouble in his plans, especially if this girl was as powerful as the reports seemed. It would further mess his plans up if she were to be on the side of the Uchiha. The little prodigy boy himself was a grave threat to him; one more would be more of a hindrance!

He had been planning to somehow convince Itachi to take part in the root or at least, to participate within their activities. It would make it easier for him to control the boy into doing his work and would of course, in due time to rid the village of the Uchiha menace. From what the rookie reported to him, it seemed that the Kunoichi was growing close to the Uchiha at a steady pace and had even teamed up with the three prodigies of Konoha; Itachi Uchiha, Shisui Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake.

"What is her physical appearance?"

"O-Oh um..uh..." Quietly berating himself for shuttering, he held up a smaller scroll; much smaller in size than to what he handed over earlier. "It..it has her photograph-"

Without hesitation, the now completely irritated Konoha elder stood up from his seat and marching over to him, grabbed away the roll of paper and began scanning through it. So it seemed that she had pink hair, green eyes and pale complexion. Apparently she had excellent chakra control as well as a large reserve of it, and possessed extremely high speed and strength that rivaled Tsunade Senju's herself.

A loud chuckle echoed around the room then, sending chills down the spine of root Anbu shinobi who was now extremely eager to run out at the earliest. This man's presence was largely uncomfortable and intimidating and he was sure that being old, was somewhat loose in the head as well. Of course, no one dared to speak out like that against Danzou Sama. Punishment was often merciless and he had heard many stories of shinobi who had been tortured to death.

He was not going to be one of those who would die here. Not yet anyway.

"This is ridiculous. The girl spells nothing but trouble and I am sure she will be up to no good. There has to be a reason as to why she is closely involved with the Uchiha and since she was placed there by the Hokage, there is no doubt that she sides with them!" Anger now evident in his voice, Danzou flung the scroll back at the terrified shinobi. "I want as much data gathered on her and bought here within this week!"

"Danzou Sama they...they've left on a mission. Today." The simple sentence was followed by deathly silence that lasted for a chilling two whole minutes, before head of the ANBU root once again, slammed his walking stick down on the floor. With a huff, he walked past the nin, quietly ordering him to leave. The latter was too happy to comply and bolted out faster than his master himself.

While somewhat amused at his antics, Danzou was still thoroughly irritated with the situation. Right now, he was making his way towards his chambers to think and to formulate a plan to try grasp his hands in it. There was no doubt that the Konoha elders had absolutely no idea of the Kunoichi residing with the Uchiha as of yet.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been his teammate and friend for several years, at least before the second Hokage proclaimed him to be the third Hokage. It was utter humiliation he faced on that mission and he would forever loathe that night as well as the one who was considered superior to him. Konoha needed a strict ruler who would impose certain rules and regulations for all to follow without question. Sarutobi was too soft and was unsuitable for the job.

Someone who considered teamwork, self sacrifice as more important to paying attention to completing missions was truly unsuitable for the role of Hokage. It went against the very principals of Shinobi and had destroyed many a reputation with it. The famous White Fang of Konoha fell into utmost disgrace after choosing to save his teammates instead of attending the mission. His final outcome was death by suicide.

"Naive...ridiculous..." He muttered to himself as he opened the door to his room, nodding at the two guards that stood in front of it. "Make sure no one disturbs me."

Then, once safely inside, he cast a seal over the door before giving a cursory glance around the dimly lit room. His quarters were furnished with only the most basic furniture needed. A small low level table in the middle of the room that supported a few open scrolls, shelf at one corner stacked with books and more scrolls and a small folded futon at another corner.

He was not the type who craved luxuries and so, though he could afford it well, decided to spend it all on recruiting new shinobi for the Root and occasional bribes. While his acts were suspect and most saw him as a questionable and senile old man, he saw himself as the complete exact opposite. Of course, fools would not be aware of how big sacrifices he made to protect Konoha.

"Sakura, the one who beat Uchiha Itachi hm?" He chuckled again as he laid the new scrolls in front of him. A sole photograph of her was attached to the smaller one, just as the rookie shinobi told him. She was petite and fragile looking, with a pale and white face that still contained some baby fat and large green eyes that were cast somewhere else. It radiated of innocence.

And yet, she was a potent killer and one who could very well hinder his plans...that is, unless he turned things into his favor.

* * *

The gentle sound of the waves crashing against the side of the boat was music to her ears. It almost made her forget that her sick teammate was just lying on the bunk above her, still begging god to have mercy on his soul. She was grateful about the fact that they would soon reach the island. Hopefully by then, Shisui would feel better.

Still, it did not change the fact that she was unable to sleep. Probably hours had passed by since her teammates drifted off peacefully and yet she was still tossing and turning around in her bunk, sleep refusing to claim her no matter how tired she was.

"Kakashi, are you awake?" She whispered, turning to her left where Kakashi and Itachi were sharing a bunk. "Kakashi!"

Silence followed after the loud whisper and a few seconds later, she heard a rather loud snore. Irritated, she reached beside her bedside for a piece of paper and crumpling it up, aimed it at his head. A soft grunt escaped from the copy nin and after stretching a bit, once more, remained motionless. So this was the famous ANBU captain, son of the white fang who was one of the best shinobi of all time? Weren't shinobi of his status supposed to be light sleepers, ready for any crisis that might make its appearance?

Completely irritated now, she reached for one of her shurikan and sitting up, catapulted at at his bottom. The reaction was immediate and she had to surpass a smile as the masked nin let out a pained howl moments before he fell from the top bunk. 'That ought to teach you for sexually assaulting Naruto with your perverted techniques.' She thought as a slight smirk finally made its way to her face. How could one _not _be amused at that?

It was a good thing that the girl had mixed a sleeping drug in the soups of both Uchiha before they went off to sleep; they were supposedly extremely light sleepers. That sharp object she threw at his butt stung hard and he was sure that if not for her potion, the little scream he let out would have probably shocked the two brats to their deaths. Especially the idiot Shisui. Kakashi wondered whether the rest of the crew heard it.

He glared up at the pink haired child, who was seemingly lost in thought as of now and felt slight annoyance start to prick at his senses. She had disrupted a delightful dream he was having, in the most distasteful way one could. More to add to that, he had forgotten about the fact that he was on the top bunk and so, had a rather hurtful fall onto the wooden floor.

"What is your problem?" He hissed as he folded his legs to sit cross-legged on the floor, snapping her out of whatever she was thinking. "You better have a damn good reason brat. I was having a good dream too. Now spit it out."

"I can't sleep." She pouted petulantly, starting to swing her legs back and forth with childish annoyance. "I feel like something's bugging me."

Kakashi could only stare with disbelief up at her and a long silence followed after that, the only sound in the room being Shisui's occasional murmurs and the soft creaking produced by the soft swinging of her feet. His left eye began breaking out into a series of twitches and he bought a hand up to his temple and started to massage it.

"You...threw a dart at my ass because you couldn't _sleep?"_

"Shurikan." She corrected, with a cheerful grin that only served to irritate him further. She clearly was insane and certainly found pleasure in deriving people from happiness. It wasn't hard to come to that conclusion as she had woken him up at roughly three am in the morning. And there was no known person who would wake someone at this ungodly hour except besides Gai. "Hey, I'm having this REAL bad feeling. Have you got a bad feeling?"

"...Yes. You threw a shurikan at my ass. Why wouldn't I get a bad feeling? I bet it made a nice hole there." His reply was grumpy and it was apparent that he really didn't want to continue this conversation. But Sakura did not feel like letting her teacher go off to sleep just yet. She was bored and wide awake and besides, felt like talking to him anyway.

"Serves you right for poking Naruto in the ass." She snorted softly, crossing her hands over her chest. "Do you have any idea how much that would have traumatized the little boy?"

The copy nin sighed and ran a hand through his hair with an exasperated look crossing over his face. "We've discussed this Sakura. That was in YOUR time. Besides, he was 16."

"No he was 13 when you first assaulted him. I know we do Kancho now and then for fun but...you had your chakra inside your fingertips. I'm pretty sure you scarred him for life. Probably that's why he ran after Sasuke."

"..Are you implying that Naruto was gay in your time...and that I was the cause of it?"

"Not really." Came her amused reply. "Naruto was definitely straight. I'm just saying you scarred him for life."

Kakashi just let out a loud groan. "Why are we discussing this at 3 AM in the morning?" All he wanted to do was sleep peacefully and to let himself be carried away by dreams. And yet, she was keeping him up and reminding him of idiotic things he used to do at her time. It was completely revolting to think that he of all of people would do such...imbecilic things.

By now he was sure that even if he went back to sleep, there was no chance that he would see pleasant dreams. High chances were that he would see disturbing images of what she just described. Silently, he decided that he was never going to use that technique on her precious, beloved 'Naruto-Chan' ever again. If he were to, she would probably mutilate him the worst way possible; enough for him to never see the light of the day ever again.

He recalled hearing around town that, the Kyuubi container was hanging around with the pink haired girl who seemed to act like his over-protective guardian. Apparently she was so obsessive about him that she nearly strangled a fellow Jounin for yelling at him. In public. She was supposed to be keeping low profile and yet, seemed to be unable to stand by and watch while he ex teammate get hurt repeatedly.

_Also, _apparently she was the _only one _who could land a blow on his head whenever he was up to mischief. And the blond boy seemed to be perfectly at ease with it. She probably had enforced that rule back in her time as well, and would certainly explain his growing idiocy. Women were truly strange things which were the hardest puzzles to ever be created by nature for man.

"Kakashi, why does your face resemble of one who is severely constipated?" His left eye twitched once more, as the seemingly innocent question was aimed at him.

"Because you woke me up by tossing a weapon to my ass?"

"Cheer up! At least we'll be reaching land soon!" She slid her way off the bed and made her way towards the tiny window. "Oh look, I was right! Wake the idiots up!"

"I will have you know..." The two shinobi turned towards Kakashi's bunk as a tired and seemingly amused voice made it's appearance. "...You woke me up long back with that scream...Kakashi San."

"It was Sakura's fault! Don't you put that blame on me Itachi!" The copy nin protested, his voice largely coming out in a childish whine. "She hurled a shurikan at my butt!"

"As an ANBU captain...you were supposed to be expecting it." Rubbing one eye with a clenched hand and stifling a yawn, the little genius sat up and focused his stare on the two. "Sakura San, you knew I was awake were you not?"

"Why wouldn't I? It was the famous ANBU captain here who didn't notice you." She snorted softly, shooting Kakashi a mocking smile. With a sigh, the teenager stood up to go wake up Shisui. If these three were driving his mentality to this point, he mulled over how much trouble Sasuke and Naruto would cause him. It would certainly be something to really be prepared for.

"I just hope this prince won't be too troublesome." She added as they all braced themselves for the boat to reach the port. "Most are known to be really annoying. I know from personal experience."

Silently, they all agreed upon her statement and hoped that this mission would go smoothly and even though it was unlikely, that the prince would not be some stubborn, stuck up and irritable teenager.

* * *

******Q&A section/Authors Notes: **

**...This has to be the shortest chapter I have written yet...as well as the most mind-numbingly _boring_. I sincerely apologize to you all who had been expecting a better chapter than this. However, I just could not think of good scenes for this.**

**The 4 reasons why I had been so late in updating are:**

** 1) I had been unsure of how to write this chapter  
2) I was slacking off like the lazy prick I am  
3) I had been busy with real life as well as obsessing over my other, less appealing stories and wondering what to do with them.  
and  
4) I was working on the manga which I am going to do on this story.**

**Yes you read that right people; I am creating a manga on this story! ^.^/ (As soon as I get the equipment that is) So I hope you have forgiven me for slacking off! Earnestly waiting for you to do so that is..**

**Now onto some questions you may have about this chapter: **

**~It is not surprising that Sasuke fell ill after all that. He truly does have low tolerance to sweet dishes according to the official Naruto data book. Still I don't think he would consider _that _while in a competition with Naruto. He is, by nature, very competitive and dislikes losing to other people even on silly things. I doubt he learned his lesson yet though...**

**~Naruto _does _have natural healing powers and those of you who carefully watch the Naruto series, you will be aware that he recovers from even major injuries in less than three days. As for the high immune system; I have personally never seen Naruto being stuck in the hospital as a result of a flu or any other disease. Sure, several other characters have been bedridden because of different aliments and yet our hero hasn't. It can be proven through his living conditions; who _wouldn't _fall ill while living in a messed up room as his? Still, I can't promise you people that he won't fall ill in my story. ^^"  
**

**~The part of Shisui getting seasick easily was entirely my idea. I doubt he gets it in the original Naruto series. (Heck, they don't even give much about his background! A shame really. He would make an excellent character...) While I am aware that I am giving him more and more on the role of being the comic relief character, I will remind you, once again, that he is not an idiot...on the level of Naruto is.**

**~Well...Danzou found out. I intended this to happen later on in the series but then, like I mentioned before, had no idea on what to write on this chapter and so threw in some randomness. While most of you may be shocked that he is considering to make Sakura join in the root, I think it is to be expected. Danzou is smart and he is aware that if she had been placed there by the Hokage, she is definitely on the Uchiha's side. Now he _hates _the Uchiha and is extremely wary of the genius Uchiha Itachi. Sakura had defeated Itachi in battle and therefore, she poses a threat to him. If he brings her to his side, he can battle against Itachi and bring him under his control.  
He does not intend to do this right away though; for now he would watch from the dark and observe her movements and record them silently. No one knows that he has found out and I doubt Sakura would soon either. My best guess would be that he would somehow try to corner her.  
Now remember, while most of his deeds may be unacceptable and doubtful, he is trying to protect Konoha in his own way. And that is the form of a dictatorship... which is against the philosophy of the will of fire. That may be the key reason why Tobirama Senju refused to choose Danzou as his successor. And thus..making him resent the ruling system...kind of.  
**

**~Sakura still has the photo she took of his face. Probably will show it to Mikoto or something. I'm just why on earth she had a camera in the first place. I am aware I am the author and that I am supposed to know but...oddly I don't. I suppose we could conclude that as being random...**

**Reviews motivate me to keep writing! So keep reviewing! ^.^/**

**Owari~ **


	6. Chapter 6

Sarutobi was exhausted.

Three more piles of pending paperwork to be done and there were two meetings he had to attend, one with the Hyuga clan over some conflicts and the other with the Konoha elders over current affairs with the village.

And just staring at the heap wasn't helping a bit.

Being Hokage was certainly not an easy job, especially at this age. When he was younger, he handled the job much more efficiently and with more enthusiasm. He really needed to retire.

"I wish you were here…Biwako." He sighed sadly, blowing out a puff of smoke from his pipe as he gazed out the window, overlooking the village. If she were here, perhaps he could be at least a bit more enthusiastic on the job; she'd never let him slack off.

Also, there'd be the sweet words of encouragement. He needed that, at his age. As Naruto made his first breath, she and several others breathed their last. Not too a few minutes later, the infant's own parents did so as well. He didn't blame the child of course; he rather admired the almost-clone of Minato with Kushina's cheeky personality.

"Speak of the devil, here arrives the troublemaker…" he muttered to himself as he saw the boy run towards the Hokage mansion. Chaos would start in a while and he would be prepared for it…almost as usual.

It would begin with the dramatic slamming of the doors.

"OLD MAN!" He cringed as Naruto burst in, seconds later. "WHEN IS SAKURA NEE COMING BACK?! SASUKE IS STILL SICK AND I'M BOOOOREEED!"

Ah so _that_ what he was upset about this time. Normally it would be about some kid who stole his new toy, being chased out of a shop or having no one to play with. Thankfully with the pink haired demon's proclaim that she was the only one entitled to punish him, kids no longer bothered him…physically at least.

"Calm down Naruto, she just left yesterday." He turned his head around to regard the furious looking boy and smiled nervously. "Why don't you go back to playing with Sasuke-"

"I SAID HE'S BORING!"

Ah, to bear a child's temper tantrum calmly was something only a select few could achieve. He had seen hell when he had to put up with the little sannin's and hoped his days of babysitting youngsters would be over. And yet…here was…

"You used to entertain yourself before."

"That was before I met Sasuke and Oneechan. But Neechan isn't here and Sasuke has a stupid cold."

"…You couldn't have forgotten how to play by yourself now have you….?"

"I haven't! It's just that I had more fun playing with more people darn it!" With that, he plopped down on the ground while giving him the squinted glare. It was his way of showing that he was clearly annoyed and that this poor old man was the cause of it. Oh joy.

There was one option left to try to get him to leave.

"How about I treat you to ramen this afternoon?"

To his mild surprise, the boy snorted loudly before crossing his tiny hands over his chest, grinning at him with amusement sparkling in his deep blue eyes. "Nice one old man but Shisui San had given me a lesson on how to avoid bribes no matter how tempting-"

"It will be at Ichiraku." Sarutobi quickly added. "Also, I'll treat you dinner and won't tell your friend that you didn't eat veggies." He continued, as if he didn't see the little drool sliding down Naruto's chin. "I'll also toss in two free coupons."

"DEAL!"

Of all the people…he had _Shisui _to teach him on how to not give in to _food_. Irony was truly at its best...

"Oh…!" He blinked as his elbow hit a random file, making it fall off the paper-laden table of work. Mumbling a few incoherent curses, he bent over and retrieved it, ignoring the discomfort that spread up his back.

As he peeked inside the folder, he saw that it contained the details of the new team who had recently embarked on their first mission only yesterday. He began to wonder how they were getting along as of now.

He doubted that they would immediately start cooperating, because of quite many legit reasons.

The first problem wasn't with Sakura; it was between the three boys. Though Itachi and Shisui got along quite well (they had been friends as long as they could remember), the personality differences were bound to get in the way of them working together.

Itachi was one who was maturing faster than Kakashi in terms of shinobi skill and intelligence and it was obvious that the little genius would pass as somewhat irritating to the copy-nin. Though he was not one to openly point out the mistakes and flaws of others, he would put his opinion forward where it was critical and when he did…he would present it in the most elaborate manner as possible.

Still, the boy preferred to silently agree with the plan a leader set out for him instead of interfering with the decision and would carry the task out without so much as a murmur. In order for a mission to be complete, a task to be finished without any drawbacks, it was critical that the apprentices should follow the orders without delay.

Shisui on the other hand had more experience at being a team leader than his friend and his type was to openly point out and reject opinions; whether it was inappropriate to the situation or whether it would offend the other did not matter. Unlike Itachi, Shisui of the Body-Flicker technique would not stay put with his lips sealed during any discussion and would always try to improve an idea which was always presented.

His thinking was that a plan put forward by a single person would not work out properly, considering not everyone's ideology was the same. Even if a team leader would command his subordinates to carry out the task, they would not do it willingly. Therefore, chances that the mission would be put into jeopardy were greater and to avoid it, all had to contribute to whatever they had in mind to a discussion.

Then there was Kakashi, who was still clearly uncomfortable about assuming the position of a team's captain after what happened years ago with his first team. It was obvious that even though he was aware of the capabilities the three children had, there was little to no chance that he would allow them to engage themselves in any dangerous face-offs with the enemy where he couldn't see them.

Especially since this time, there were two Uchiha to consider.

Last time, after he had returned to Konoha with Obito missing, the whole of the Uchiha elders had nearly murdered him on the belief that he had purposely killed his comrade in order to steal his sharingan.

As such, Kakashi trusted himself no more than the Uchiha elders and Obito's family did.

'The second problem…little pink demon Sakura…' he thought as an amused chuckle escaped from his lips. The Uchiha council refused to trust her and demanded that she attend a formal meeting with them; which will be held after the mission hopefully.

She had the worst temper and though it was unlikely that she would let her emotions get better of her on a mission, something told him that he should be concerned for Shisui's and Kakashi's wellbeing. Her temper after all, rivaled Tsunade's as from what he gathered from his memory.

Itachi was well-mannered therefore; it was safe to assume that he would not be physically assaulted as much. Still, the boy seemed to like irritating her _just _for the sake of humoring himself. So then, it would be safe to assume that he would be _less _physically assaulted than the other two.

A perverted captain, an idiot, a sadist and a silent genius; could it be that he had just assembled history's worst team?

* * *

"I CURSE YOU KAKASHI! CURSE YOU AND ALL YOUR FUTURE OFFSPRING TO HELL! AND MAY YOUR MANHOOD SHRINK TO THE SIZE OF A PEANUT!"

"Oh shut up and put this on." The annoyed captain sighed as he picked up the dog mask and put it over Shisui's head. "Can you see through the eye holes?"

"SCREW YOU! I CAN'T SEE SHIT! AND IT'S HOT INSIDE THIS THING! I CAN'T EVEN BREATHE! GET IT OFF SCARECROW MAN!"

Sakura clicked her tongue sympathetically as she watched Kakashi pull off the mask and hit Shisui on the head before telling him to shut up once more. That done, he began carving the small holes to a bigger size. The latter who was sweating profusely, wiped his forehead with the back of the paw as he scowled further.

Guarding a spoiled prince was one of the hardest things to accomplish for a shinobi considering it took a lot of patience, false smiles and coaxing to calm one down.

He was the only son of a tired and widowed (and yet shockingly young looking) king and was ridiculously spoiled. While just around Itachi's age, he acted like an overly-demanding two year old who had a destructive personality. Also, he hated shinobi. Double that with shinobi with an attitude.

And so, Shisui was to become his loyal pet _bear_ 'Toto' who would do nothing except to follow him around 24/7.

"Shisui stop sulking." Itachi murmured as he spared a wary glance at his best friend. "You were the one who snapped when he made fun of your nose."

"My nose is _not _huge!" It came out as a large whine that sounded as if he might start crying soon and it was quite evident that he was going to be upset for a good long time. Apparently even Itachi had no idea that his best friend was extremely self-conscious about his facial features, until now.

"Don't worry Shisui. It looks pretty normal to me. He was probably just being rude as most princes are." Sakura offered kind words in order to calm him down. She could relate with him, somewhat, knowing that she too used to be extremely self-conscious about her appearance. (She still was but was nowhere near admitting it to anyone, anytime soon.)

Kakashi snorted as he dragged the mask over the twelve-year olds head once more. "Big or not, he didn't have to scream and try to attack our client. Our job is to protect him; not to rip his tongue. Thanks to you we all are in trouble. And you-"

The pinkette smiled sweetly as the visible eye hardened and turned to try burn a hole in her head. "Why did you have to agree with the idiot!?"

"Hey, Shisui was right for once." She murmured as she observed her fingernails, not making any effort to hide her amusement at the sight of seeing her sensei so riled up. "I for one agree that the guy is a complete asshole. Even the poor ol' King is wary of him."

The team's captain let out a loud cry of exasperation before he placed a hand over his face. He had a feeling that this mission was going to end up in complete failure, considering the attitude of his three temporary teammates.

Sarutobi Sama surely must have been drinking something to have assembled them together. This was definitely _not _going to work out.

"Look," he sighed as he turned to the three. "I know that you are upset with this mission considering the attitude of our client and the…situations presented to us…but you have to work it out at least until the problems with the kingdom are done with."

"I wouldn't have a problem with any of this, if he didn't have to go ahead and order me to be his stupid pet." Shisui remarked quietly.

Itachi just silently scrutinized everyone for around three whole minutes before his gaze settled upon Sakura's face. She seemed to be really enjoying the mission so far; even with the prince had ordering her to be his personal maid for the time being, she didn't seem to have any problem with it.

"What… is there something on my face?" He blinked and averted his eyes as she asked, shaking his head.

"I'm just wondering why you seem to be enjoying yourself."

"Oh, that." She smiled. "I just happen to enjoy seeing sensei getting riled up."

"Don't call me sensei. The way you say it makes it sound a lot less innocent." Kakashi sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Kakashi _Sensei~_" She promptly said, the smile still on her face.

After staring at her face for solid five long seconds, he decided to pretend he didn't hear it and walked across the room to retrieve his bag with the mission details. "Shisui, you get the hell going to find the prince and stay with him. Under no circumstances are you allowed to let him slip from your sight." He instructed as he approached the door.

"As for you two, keep a close watch on suspicious persons around the castle and under no circumstances are you allowed to leave the castle without letting me know. And, supposing you get into trouble with enemies, call for me through a summoning, clone or whatever. I will be with the king. Do not attempt to fight on your own. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes." The two Uchiha murmured. Sakura merely waved her hand as she looked out the window, adjusting to try getting comfortable on the sill.

The two sat in comfortable silence for a while before Sakura turned to regard the dark haired Uchiha who seemed to be slightly bored while re-reading a novel he had already finished on the trip here. A light bulb lit over her head and she smiled wider.

"Let's play a game Itachi San. I'm bored and so are you."

"….Okay?"

"It's a guessing game. Each one of us gets a turn in asking the other odd questions about a certain object in which the person who is being question has to guess what the object is. Should I lose, I will do whatever you tell me to do…for a month."

"And if I lose…?"

"You follow me outside to go have some fun around the village for the day."

Oh hell no.

* * *

Half an hour later, a disgruntled Uchiha trudged behind his female teammate through the busy, late afternoon crowd of the village with a slight scowl on his face.

"You are the most cunning woman I have ever come across my entire life." He muttered as she paused near a stall to buy some fried shrimp. "You do realize Kakashi will murder us once he finds out about this?"

"Oh hush." He nearly choked as she shoved a whole roasted shrimp into his mouth before paying the stall owner. "I didn't cheat at all; you were just unlucky. And there is no way he will find out; my shadow clones are half my strength and they are capable of taking down at least three dozen bandits before they disappear."

"Anyway, why don't you admit it? You are enjoying this."

Itachi didn't answer; or rather couldn't. Shrimp were chewy and it could take a while before he could swallow down the whole thing. Since he _was _hungry and since she did so much as pay for it, he didn't have the heart to throw it away. So until then, he couldn't utter a word. Lovely.

He let the girl guide him through the unpleasant crowds of people, sticking as close to her as possible without making physical contact in order to avoid touching random people too much. The smell of frying fish, rotten vegetables and sweat was thick in the muggy, hot air and it was largely uncomfortable to him.

The kingdom of _Kōrogi warau – Laughing Crickets _was extremely different from Konoha and even though he shouldn't have been really surprised, one thing intrigued him greatly.

Everyone loved the little insects.

It was a bit unnerving to see even little children carry them around and speak to them as though as they were their friends, choosing to hear their chirps over buying new toys that flashed so invitingly in the window shops.

"Want something to drink?" he snapped his attention back to the pinkette who now held an apple juice packet in her hands, looking rather apologetic. "Your cheeks are going to hurt if you don't swallow that soon."

Bowing slightly, he accepted it gratefully and took a long sip. It took him another minute to swallow down the whole thing completely and as she said, his mouth did feel slight discomfort after being stretched for so long.

"Sorry." She grinned sheepishly, scratching her own cheek. "Does it really hurt?"

"Just a mild discomfort." He assured her, a small smile gracing his lips. "It wouldn't be the first time someone stuffed food into my mouth forcefully. My mother is just as violent as you are; she doesn't show that part around you."

"…No way."

"Her best friend was Kushina San…"

Blinking owlishly, she turned around and began walking forward, seemingly lost in thought. Itachi followed quietly, hands stuffed inside his pockets as he glanced around the place. He wondered where she was heading off to; they shouldn't be straying too far from the palace.

"So…that would mean Mikoto and Kushina san meant to make my Naruto and Sasu-Chan friends from birth!" He blinked at her sudden declaration.

"Well…they planned it but-"

"I KNEW IT. They were destined for each other!"

"…Sakura San. That would be easily misinterpreted by anyone."

"So you know stuff like that eh? You had the 'talk' at this age?"

"I figured it out. Besides…there was Shisui…and now you and Kakashi."

"I am so proud to be the third pevy sensei!"

"…You need to get your mentality checked."

"I was a certified psycho from birth. I started from being a rabid fan girl and became a simple killing machine in due time."

...Well, at least she wasn't boring unlike most people he knew. In fact, it was the most amusing thing to discuss random topics with her. It was unlikely that he would have the same type of a conversation with anyone else and he doubted anyone but a selective few would be able to exchange words with her without being completely flabbergasted.

In all honesty though, right now he was completely concerned for their well being should Kakashi find out that she had snuck out…and dragged him along with her just for the sake of 'secretly' investigating around the village.

It was highly amusing that Sakura still thought that he was still unaware of what she was up to. She was easier to read than a book and he wondered how she would react once he told her that. He doubted she'd take it well.

In any case, he opted to follow her around without commenting on her task, occasionally arguing and talking about random topics. (she did most of the talking however as Shisui did)

Midday passed and the two shinobi decided to stop for some dango and tea in a café, where Sakura mumbled incoherent curses and occasionally loudly complaining about how weird the mission and the village were. He listened patiently, chuckling every now and then at her choice of words.

Once or twice he had to clamp his hand over her mouth as she swore loudly. She seemed to constantly forget that she wasn't an adult anymore, much to his chagrin.

For Sakura, she was completely annoyed with how her investigation turned out so far. Weird was an understatement for the village; they all _unnerved _her.

One reason she had snuck out was solely for the purpose of disobeying Kakashi (over the years as an ANBU she had acquired the habit of occasionally ignoring rules and orders imposed on her by higher authorities- the two old bats in the council mostly) but the other was to observe the village out of mild curiosity.

According to the king; groups of bandits attacked the village now and then without warning and usually left with valuables and occasionally a woman or a girl. And by the time the soldiers acted, it was too late and the damages were done.

He had called them when they raided the palace _thrice _and tried to kidnap his _son._ Only they didn't take any valuables; they were only after the royal bastard.

So judging by it all, she assumed that the poor civilians must have been traumatized to the inches of their life. Instead they all carried on as normal people would. Even the children were out playing without adult supervision. Honestly, what kind of parents would leave their children out to play with the dangers around right now?

"What do we do antisocial weasel San?" she mumbled as she placed her head on the table.

Itachi was nonplussed at the odd nickname suddenly bestowed on him and yet, chose to ignore it for the time being. "I don't know." He answered as he raised a stick of Mitarashi dango to his lips.

"Come on, you should've gathered _something_ by now."

Ah, so she knew that he was aware of her intentions. The stick remained suspended in the air, barely touching his lips as a smile graced it.

"And here I thought I would surprise you Sakura san." He chuckled as he bit down on one sweet dumpling, savoring the rich flavor that coated his tongue. She followed, drinking some tea afterwards before giving him a pointed look.

"You are fucking Uchiha Itachi. Underestimating you will be a serious mistake." She muttered, crossing her hands over her chest. "Even though you look like a cute, innocent boy who anyone would be smitten by a mere glance, you are more cunning than a red fox. I know _that _at least."

"…Cute, innocent boy?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't tell me you didn't notice all those girls stalking you."

"...huh?"

She stared at him, trying to decide between flicking a finger against his forehead or to face-palm. His confused expression, complete with his head slightly cocked to one side only served to make him look even more childish.

"Those poor girls…" she mumbled as she recollected catching glimpses of shy girls who hid behind trees and turned pink whenever he passed by. Yesterday, right before they set off, two girls approached him with overly reddened cheeks and wished him luck for the mission. It seemed he was completely oblivious all this time to their little actions of affection.

Ah well, at least it was better than Sasuke from her time. He used to glare at any girl who would so much as dare to touch him. Most were frightened away; except her. Unpleasant memories of her rabid fangirl days swept through her mind and she visibly shuddered.

If she were to meet the mini her from this time, she was going to train her to _not _be attracted by cute Uchiha boys. If that was at all possible that is…

"Sakura San." She came back to reality as Itachi snapped his fingers in front of her. "What's wrong? You seem extremely annoyed by something."

"I remembered the time when I was a rabid fan girl." She sighed as she picked up her now, cool cup of green tea and took a sip. It was too bitter for her taste but she didn't complain. "But really, you are completely unaware of their affections towards you?"

"Who?"

"Those girls from the academy and your clan. You can't be completely unaware of it."

"They scare me."

She promptly choked on her tea.

* * *

"You are the worst!" Kakashi dodged a plate that was tossed at his head. Shisui, who was sitting beside a pet's food bowl on the floor scowled behind his mask.

The king spared an apologetic look towards the copy nin and his teammate who was dressed as a bear before he sighed.

"Maitake, I cannot allow you to leave even with the shinobi around." He tried to pat his son's head, only to be brushed off rudely. "I am doing this for your own protection son."

"Screw it! I want to go outside!" The fourteen year old prince yelled, flinging a chair at Kakashi who moved to the side calmly to avoid being hit.

The King stared at his son warily before sighing. Nodding at Kakashi he walked out of the room and locked the door behind him. The action made the already furious boy snap and he began throwing and overturning everything in his sight. Shisui crawled towards Kakashi and sat beside him wordlessly and they both watched the prince vent his anger out on the furniture.

Being a pet, Shisui was not allowed to stand or walk at all; instead having to crawl to places and eat from a pet bowl. Initially he hated the seemingly conceited boy but once he saw why the prince acted this way, he couldn't help but feel slightly sorry.

Ever since the attacks, he had been denied the right from leaving his room, which had no windows that even offered a glimpse of the outside world. Only a few holes were drilled near the ceiling to allow in air. Food was delivered to him by guards who rarely spoke to him. He must've felt like a prisoner.

Even then, he still saw the teenager as being annoying and self-centered.

"Hey, do you think Sakura's coaxing could calm him down?" Shisui whispered to Kakashi as Maitake collapsed on his bed, burying his face into the pillows while screaming.

"I don't know really." Kakashi murmured. "She does have this motherly aura around Naruto but this guy is older than her…."

"She is older that three of us _mentally." _Shisui argued. "Itachi does a good job at calming people down too. He's a good listener and-"

"Bears don't talk Toto. Shut up and go to sleep." He blinked as the prince ordered, shooting him a glare. Shisui refused to budge, annoyance creeping up to him once more. Kakashi prodded him with his foot, to which he grudgingly crawled over to the pet bed and lay down, obviously sulking.

As Kakashi straightened a fallen chair, he wondered whether he should really let Sakura and Itachi take over babysitting the kid. He really was not cut out for this. Besides Shisui was right; the two kids were better at tolerating annoying loud babies.

After a few minutes of cleaning, he was out using the spare key given to him by the king, heading towards the room where he left the two Chuunin. He hoped that Sakura had listened to him and stayed put without going anywhere. She had a tendency to do exactly the _opposite _of what he ordered her to do.

According to her, it was a habit which she grew on as a quiet form of going against the Konoha elders but soon extended it to anyone she didn't really didn't feel like following.

Well at least Itachi was there to force some manners down her, hopefully. If he could control Shisui, he could control Sakura...hopefully. They did say that good manners tend to rub off on people.

"You two, I need you to take over guarding the prince." He announced as he opened the door, half expecting Sakura to be gone. To his relief the pinkette was still present and was engrossed in a game of cards with the genius Uchiha kid. He blinked as Itachi looked up, a stupid look replacing his normal cool expression.

"Ah Kakashi! Come play with us!" He grinned waving his hand, motioning him over. The action shocked him and he stumbled a few steps back, wondering whether the infamous stoic Uchiha Itachi had just _grinned._ He watched Sakura plant a large blow onto his head with a scowl.

"Idiot! We have to go babysit the prince!"

"I don't want to…can't you do it Kakashi?"

Kakashi blinked slowly. Once. Twice.

Slowly then, he exited the room as calmly as possible and stood outside for a few seconds. Then, he reopened the door to see Itachi throttling the pinkette, screaming that she cheated. Sakura in return hooked two fingers up his nose and grinned as he howled in pain.

"Um…Itachi?" The copy nin whispered weakly, holding up a finger.

"Yeah, yeah! Let's go protect the prince." He stood up with a pout and rubbing his nose, sulked out of the room. Kakashi stared after him and Sakura as they both walked to the chamber.

For a long time, the copy nin just stood there, his hand frozen on the doorknob as his mind replayed what just happened. Was it a wrong idea to leave the sane boy alone with her?

It was clear as day; Sakura broke Itachi's stoic-ness.

"Oh no…" he groaned as he squatted down, burying his face with his hands. "I let Sakura snap Itachi's sanity…Fugaku San will _murder _me! Hokage Sama...help me..."

And that was how 'Toto' found him an hour later, still frozen in the same pose with a look of abashed horror across his face.

* * *

Mucking around silently in the thick, dense growth of the forest, the little girl with eyes bright as spring leaves gave a cursory glance around before hiding in a large opening in the trunk of a tree. Her wide forehead was stinging terribly, all because of the rock that bully had thrown at it while taunting about how huge it was.

All she wanted to do was play in the park and then go back home and sleep while waiting for her mum and dad to arrive home. And yet, each time she went out to the park, that particular group would be waiting somewhere to pelt her with rocks and eggs, all the while sneering at her for being ugly. Today was no different and she was sure that they were hiding here somewhere...just waiting for her to come out.

The six year old wanted to run off the very moment and yet, her common sense warned her that it would not be a wise decision at this moment where those ambushers could be hiding anywhere. The smartest thing to do was to creep around and hide whenever any voice was sounded, all until she could see her village in sight.

It had not yet occurred to her that with midday approaching quickly, the kids must have already left her by herself to go home and enjoy their lunch before settling for an afternoon nap. Venturing into the forest alone was certainly not approved for little children and they weren't keen to get caught, especially when harassing a little girl with a huge forehead.

Her stomach growled as she adjusted to try get comfortable in the small, cramped and dark temporary hiding place, which smelled of rotting wood and apples.

_Apples_

Without thinking, she bolted out to get a good glimpse of the trees around her. To her utmost delight, the full grown tree right beside the one she was hiding in indeed bore many juicy and round, red apples that looked so inviting and delicious. However, the ones on the bottom had already fallen off and there was no chance that her petite body could ever climb such a height to reach for the ones on top.

An adult surely could have reached that height but alas, she was just a child and that too, a civilian. If she possessed any shinobi skills, she could have run up and grasped them easily...before gently biting down on their shiny red skin and taking a mouthful of the sugary flesh of which the delightful taste would have spread in her mouth and the juice dribbling down her chin.

It had not occurred to her yet that she was not supposed to find a healthy apple tree out here, in the middle of dark, thick vegetation. What was on her mind on that moment was on how to get the fruits that were hanging above her head.

Her stomach growled loudly and she was starting to feel slightly faint. It was decision time and her chosen choice was to try climbing the tree.

Walking forward slowly, she grabbed hold of the trunk and tried to reach for the nearest branch. However, short as she was, the pinkette could barely reach it. Growing exasperated, she began jumping in an attempt to get hold of it.

The peculiar sight was being silently scrutinized by a pair of confused cerulean eyes that belonged to none other than Uzumaki Naruto. He had been chasing a little rabbit out here when he thought he saw a mop of pink hair bopping up and down not too far away. Sakura Neechan was the only person he was aware had pink hair and so, he abandoned the bunny and approached the girl in curiosity.

The area was dark; most of the suns' rays having been blocked out by heavy growth of trees. And due to this reason, he tried to convince himself that it really wasn't his Sakura Neechan jumping up and down in front of a tree...or was it?

For all he was aware of, Sakura Neechan was a genius, elite shinobi who could beat just about anyone easily and one who could fly amongst trees and hang upside down ceilings. There was no possible way that this girl who bore a striking resemblance to her, could really be his best friend.

A sudden realization dawned on him then and he congratulated himself for thinking out such a brilliant answer. Grumpy Sasuke bore a striking resemblance to Itachi San and they were both brothers. So it would be safe to assume that this girl was Sakura Neechan's little sister!

Though she had mentioned that she was an only child, she had also mentioned that she lost her parents a long time ago and she presumed that they were dead. So this could only mean one thing; her parents were alive and she had a new little sister she never knew she had!

As excitement filled his senses, the boy bolted forward in order to drag her back to Konoha. How overjoyed would she be to know that she had a big sister!

"HEY YOU! GIRL WITH PINK HAIR!" He screamed, waving his arms around in an attempt to catch her attention.

Unfortunately the little action was misunderstood by little Sakura who quickly came to a conclusion that he was yet, another bully who had been waiting in ambush. So, releasing a high pitch shriek that briefly stunned the Kyuubi container (hurting his poor ears in the process and also sending terrified birds fleeing away) she abandoned her beloved apple tree and ran, not caring where she was headed.

Uzumaki Naruto however was not one to be easily put down by that (he had heard shrieks far worse coming from old ladies who ran the moment they saw him, the process forgetting their walking stick) and he gave chase to her.

It did occur to him that she may be running because she had perceived him as a threat (most did) but since she resembled Sakura Oneechan closely, he decided that he was going to catch her no matter what.

He'd treat her to ramen after wards and was sure she'd feel better!

Thankfully, the girl soon began to slow down from exhaustion from the earlier running as well as hunger and let herself fall to the forest floor in order to catch a breath. It took him no time at all to reach her and when he did, the first thing he did was to peer into her face and grin.

Big mistake.

* * *

**Q&A section/ Authors notes:**

**There you have it peeps. I apologize for history's 'worst chapter ever' and yet, there is nothing I can do to fix my brain yet. It has become overloaded with useless information drilled in from school and has to store many more for my exams up ahead.  
**

**I know. Four months and this crappy chapter. I...have failed you all. I must commit seppuku... **

**But fear not! I shall (try to) upload better chapters near future! -might gai pose- Though I can't really promise a good one until the exams are over. Also, I'm wondering why I had to pick protecting a prince for their mission; it's definitely unoriginal, boring and...well...there is really nothing to write on it ... **

**Anyway, here are some questions you might have about the chapter:**

**~It seems a bit obvious but, Biwako is Sarutobi's wife. She helped Kushina to deliver Naruto and was killed by Tobi soon after. **

**~ Kakashi being traumatized and still hot-headed...I think I will keep the hot-headed Kakashi for a while. There are three annoying brats around to keep his coolness at bay now aren't there! -grins- And one of them is cooler than him. **

**~Yes. Sakura is a bit of a sadist...at least in the eyes of the Hokage, Shisui and Fugaku. **

**~ The idea of Sakura being a bit of a rebel just popped in randomly into my mind and decided to keep it for lighter chapters in the future. She loves troubling Kakashi and hopefully, this would create a friendly bond between them. Also she agreed with Shisui _just_ for the sake of annoying him. She loves Kakashi that much.**

**~ Toto~! It's what my little cousin calls me for reasons I don't quite understand and yet decided to use it because it sounds so ...adorable. For Shisui-pie of course. -cough- I think I'll let the pink haired sadist torture him with the name after the mission. -grin- **

**~She dragged Itachi out to protect her back and initially thought he wouldn't notice. But yes, he is motherf*cking Uchiha Itachi who am I kidding! He's smarter than Shikamaru, there's that. But then considering the number of encounters Sakura had in _her _past with Itachi and the brief battle she had with him a while back, I think she would be careful in not underestimating the kid.  
**

**~Sakura is making her clone who has transformed into Itachi act stupid on purpose..again to screw with Kakashi's mind.**

**~ Itachi is overly kind and generous to people and he often sees gestures like random chocolates and flowers from girls as humble gifts and nothing more. Do not...say that this is making him OOC. Kishimoto clearly stated that near everyone was aware that he was unsuited to being a shinobi simply because he was too kind and gentle. Before Itachi could kill his parents, (Fugaku had to urge him to carry it out when he hesitated) his father also mentioned that he was indeed 'a gentle child'.  
He could be perceived as a killing machine by his enemies but his parents were aware that he was just a child; a lonely and sad child who was overly burdened by mistakes done out by the older generation and yet, bore them out without so much as a complaint.  
Since Itachi Kun did not have a childhood as he should have had in the original series, I am very much looking forward to creating the childhood he deserves! I mean he's only 10!  
**

**~ ...Do not...try to capslock me to death alright? I know she cursed in front of him but then he is used to it probably, considering the people he hangs out with. -mental sweat drop-**

**~ My son is not dead. I don't know what happened to him back there but...I know mini Sakura did not kill him, maim him or rocket him to Suna. Knowing her, she'd probably scream his ears off or start crying to make him hyperventilate in fear that he may have broken her. Girls are after all...fragile. (Not really. -grin-) My apologies go to Kushina Sama; I have adopted him without permission. **

**~ About the fact that Sakura and Naruto were _both _bullied by children back then...I never actually realized it. -scowl- I think the series would have been so much better if little Sakura met little Naruto and became friends. Her parents don't seem to hate him either. Hmm...  
Either way, for all those who read the recent manga; who else feels a bit disappointed (although happy) with it? I think it's nice that Sakura finally has caught up to her teammates but then I feel that she is loosing her originality and becoming more Tsunade like-  
HOLD UP. WHAT HAPPENED TO HER ANYWAY? IS SHE REALLY DEAD?!  
**

**Rant is over and I hope you (at least a bit) enjoyed this (crappy) chapter which took over four months to write. -nervous smile- **

**Reviews make me happy and motivate me to keep writing so please, review! One thing...if you can please put forward as much signed requests as possible! Guest reviews make it harder for me to thank those who support me! **

**Owari~**


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